
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 11, 1993                   TAG: 9308110176
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN                                LENGTH: Medium

GOVERNOR'S SCHOOL SEEKS WAYS TO PUSH SCIENCE

The board of the Southwest Virginia Governor's School considered ways Tuesday to promote science education to more potential students.

For the past two summers, faculty member Woody McKenzie has worked with groups of about a dozen ninth-grade students from different counties in 10-day science exploration programs. The group came from Giles County in the summer of 1992. This summer, they came from the Pulaski and Dublin middle schools in Pulaski County.

Pulaski County Superintendent William Asbury said it might be possible to expand the program to include students from all nine localities served by the regional school.

The buildings on the Pulaski County High School campus, where the Governor's School building is also located, go largely unused during the summer. There also would be teachers available who could join McKenzie in providing instruction, Asbury said.

The summer exploration program might serve as many as 100 students who had completed eighth grade and were about to enter high school, Asbury said.

The summer program was started to increase interest in science among students who could attend the Governor's School as juniors and seniors.

"It's important for them to see that it can be a lot of fun," McKenzie said.

McKenzie reported on activities by this summer's group, including field trips to Little Walker Creek, Little Reed Island Creek and Claytor Lake. The students also studied ecological systems in the area back of the school itself, and captured forms of aquatic life to study under microscopes at the school.

"I let each student adopt a critter," McKenzie said. "They were going to be responsible for showing the other students what that student's critter was about."

The students also wrote reports, drew on computers and learned computer graphing. They kept notebooks but no grades were given.

They also put together a videotape showing some of what they learned during the program. Copies of the tape are available to school systems.

by CNB