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Community Corner

LOCAL TEACHER PARTICIPATES IN

CUMBERLAND—Garvin Memorial School Fifth Grade Teacher Laura Benjamin wants to help her students learn more in math and science. She applied to be involved with a summer workshop sponsored by Golfer Phil Mickelson and his wife, Amy, hoping that opportunity would present itself.

 

            Opportunity knocked over the summer, and Benjamin is certainly glad she did. She was one of only three teachers selected from Rhode Island and 200 nationwide to travel all-expenses paid to Jersey City, N.J., to spend one week with other educators to learn new and different learning STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) concepts.

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            “It was first class all the way,” said Benjamin, who attended the Phil and Amy Mickelson EXXONMOBIL Teaching Academy in July. “We were put into small groups and were given tasks to complete. The educators did not give us much background. They allowed us to figure out the experiments ourselves before telling us what the lessons were in greater detail.

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“It was backwards from how most teachers present new ideas,” Benjamin continued. “We usually have students take notes first and maybe do the experiment after. They encourage us to allow the students to learn by being hands-on and doing it themselves.”

 

She said the Mickelsons arrived on the final day to speak with the group. Benjamin said the reigning British Open Champ explained the importance of math in his game. He told the crowd how they figured out that he is the most accurate from within 10 feet of the cup. So, when he approaches the green, Mickelson tries to get within that distance so that he can make the next shot. Mickelson said the math determined that his success rate drops significantly the further away from the pin his ball lands.

 

Like her incoming students, Benjamin was not above learning something during the week-long instruction. In addition to learning, it was also a chance for her to learn from the other educators from across the country.

 

“I did not have much experience in learning about the effects of force and motion, as I didn’t have physics in high school.  Everything was very new to me. It was fascinating to see how exciting the simple experiments could be. It was also a great networking experience and getting to meet other educators from around the country.  

“We did not want for anything,” Benjamin said of the Academy. “You really let the kids go first. One of the teachers there said ‘teaching is messy,’ and you have the ability to knock stuff down or blow things up. You can get kids to ask ‘I wonder,’ which can lead to a greater understanding of concepts.”

 

Benjamin said she encourages any teacher from grades three through five to apply for next year’s Academy. Benjamin said she would eagerly do it again, but the event is open to teachers who have not already participated. Anyone can nominate a teacher, a student, parent, administrator or another teacher.

 

 To apply or nominate a teacher for the 2014 Phil and Amy Mickelson ExxonMobil Teaching Academy, please visit www.sendmyteacher.com to nominate someone. Notifications will be e-mailed next spring.

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