Literacy for ALL!

Thursday, November 8, 2007 12:00 PM CST Students asked how to involve their peers in math, science By EMILY CHRISTENSEN, Courier Staff Writer CEDAR FALLS — State lawmakers have had their say. College professors and high school teachers have had their say. But, for the first time since the debate began, students finally had the opportunity to share their thoughts on the issue of attracting more young Iowans to fields in math and science. More than 50 schools and 200 students from as far away as Sioux City and Keokuk participated in the first ever High School Summit on Mathematics and Science Wednesday at Price Laboratory School. The event was coordinated by the Iowa Mathematics and Science Council. “I understand that not a lot of students like math and science because it can be intimidating, but it is very important for the future of America,” said Aldijana Omanovic, a senior at West High School. Omanovic said she does not excel in either subject, but wanted to hear what others had to say about getting more young Iowans interested in math and science fields. One recommendation Omanovic offered was to begin building the foundation and excitement in middle school students. She thinks if teachers had pushed her into accelerated courses at an earlier age she would have developed better skills and an even greater passion for the subject. Other ideas included offering loan forgiveness for students who chose occupations in these fields and stay in the state to educating students about career opportunities using math and science outside the typical fields of engineering and medicine. Marissa Baskerville, a junior at NU High, said she was surprised to hear how many students didn’t take four years of math and science in high school. “With math, at least, a lot of people just don’t think it is fun,” she said. “And we do have fun. We just have to find a way to show that.” The keynote speaker, Gov. Chet Culver, said the state has already taken the first steps toward solving what he calls a “job surplus” in the next five years. The Iowa Department of Education expanded its model core curriculum, which encouraged school districts to adopt graduation requirements requiring students to take three years each in math and science. The state is also asking districts to look at the skills taught in each class to ensure both rigor and relevance, which they hope will better prepare students for post-secondary education. “We owe it to all of our kids to offer an equal education, whether they are in rural or urban schools,” Culver said. Wednesday afternoon students brainstormed with others from their school to develop marketing tools addressing one the summit’s three main goals: increasing enrollment in high school math and science, increasing achievement in math and science and increasing the number of students going into math and science careers. Each of the schools must submit a marketing plan to IMSC this spring. Joan Duea, IMSC director, said the council and its supporting sponsors will then evaluate those plans to determine which can be replicated and disseminated to districts across the state. “We expect them to come up with some ideas that are totally out of the box from what the adults think,” Duea said. “That is the power of these students.” Contact Emily Christensen at (319) 291-1570 or emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.