Few elementary school teachers in the District of Columbia are prepared to deal with educational reforms that are instituted in D.C., and across the country. Because most of these instructors lack a sufficient background in science, mathematics, or computer technology, the city’s children risk being ill prepared for lives as constructive citizens and productive workers. Excellent jobs are available in the nation’s capital and its suburbs, but if the children continue to be taught as their brothers and sisters were, they will not be able to qualify for them.

Educating the teachers to educate the children is the challenge that the Carnegie Academy for Science Education (CASE) accepted when it began in 1993. Since then, the program has provided science and mathematics training to some 800 teachers in over half the elementary schools in Washington, D.C. CASE evolved from a community outreach program, First Light, founded in 1989 by Dr. Maxine Singer, president of the Carnegie Institution. First Light, a free Saturday science school for D.C. children, now serves as a laboratory for testing CASE’s instructional methodologies.

CASE is fortunate to start 2002 with a major gift from the Philip L. Graham Fund. Thanks to the fund, the CASE Technology Training Program will be able to purchase computer hardware in time to train as many as 60 D.C. Public School (DCPS) teachers during the 2002 Summer Institute and the yearlong courses that follow. The equipment will be part of the CASE computer lab located in the Resource Center of the institution’s P Street building. The lab is designed to train prekindergarten through sixth-grade teachers in developing and delivering a technology curriculum to their students.

Over the next two years, CASE and First Light must raise almost $1 million to become independent of federal funding. To meet that goal, corporations, foundations, and individuals interested in providing quality science, mathematics, and technology education for the city’s teachers and children are being invited to join the Carnegie Institution in sponsoring this program. By broadening its base of support, CASE will be well positioned to continue its service to the community far into the future.

First Light and CASE use everyday examples to teach science. Regular field trips reinforce this method at the Saturday science school. During the past winter, students learned about the laws of gravity and motion via ice-skating.

The Carnegie Academy for Science Education is a program of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Contributions are fully tax deductible. Checks intended for CASE/First Light should be made payable to the Carnegie Institution and designated for “support of the Carnegie Academy for Science Education.”

For more information on giving opportunities: contact the CASE development office at 202.387.6400 ext. 143 e-mail case@ciw.edu, or go to the Web site www.caseciw.org

thank you

CASE and the First Light Saturday science school wish to acknowledge the generous gifts, grants, services, and equipment donated in 2001 and 2002 by the following organizations and individuals:

$100,000 or more

Carnegie Institution of Washington
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
National Science Foundation
Ladislaus von Hoffman

$10,000 or more

Michael E. Gellert
Gellert Charitable Trust
Philip L. Graham Fund
David Greenewalt Charitable Trust
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The Verizon Foundation

$1,000 or more

Jo Ann Eder
Paul and Annetta Himmelfarb Foundation
David Singer
Stephanie Frank Singer

Under $1,000

Bradley F. and Virginia W. Bennett
Todd and Caroline Brethauer
Donald D. and Linda W. Brown
Robert and Arlene Fischer
Barbara Searle
Constance P. Tate
Roger and Lillian Youman

Other

IBM
Intel Teach to the Future
Microsoft Master Teacher Program