The University of St. Francis brought together 27 area middle school teachers and 25 Joliet high school students for a week to study math and science.
The students, from Joliet Central and Joliet West High Schools, were selected through the university’s Access to College Initiative, which assists students who will be the first in their families to attend college. The dual classroom was possible because of a $40,000 federal education grant that the college received to fund a teacher workshop. The Access to College program is 10 years old, but getting the grant allowed the school to offer a new dimension through the workshop, including a chance for the students to stay in the college dorms, said Clarice Boswell, the University’s ACI coordinator.
The teachers, including those from schools in Joliet, Lockport and Wilmington, spent two weeks in their own workshop before the high school students arrived. With help from university professors, they studied ways to better integrate math, science and technology into their curriculums, then put their new knowledge to work organizing and leading activities for the students.
The students did research on the Internet, visited Pilcher Park in Joliet and prepared and delivered a multimedia presentation. At Pilcher Park, a 500-acre nature area, the students worked in groups of four or five to answer questions about Hickory Creek, including its depth, length and velocity.
Myles Singleton, 15, who will be a sophomore at Joliet Central, reported his group’s findings about the creek’s water quality after looking up U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for drinking water on the Internet.
When Singleton asked the teachers and other students if they would drink from the creek, they laughed and shrieked no. Based on water samples, they found that the oxygen and ammonia levels exceeded federal standards, while the nitrate levels failed to meet those standards. Singleton said the group determined that drinking the creek’s water was not wise.
“This was a great experience to find out about college life,” Singleton said afterwards. “I think we now know what we can expect over the next two years to get ready for college.”
Andrea Jones, 15, who will be a sophomore at Joliet West, said she benefited too.
“I think that college is a very different thing from high school,” she said. “I learned that you need to work with many people to get a job done.”
Katherine Sahlas, who teaches in Berwyn, said the teachers will meet again in the fall to discuss how the instruction methods are working in their classrooms.
“This program will have an immediate effect on us,” she said.
