From The Director . . .        

 In November the four Career Opportunities in Research (COR) Scholars (Gwen Agustin, Maria Rivas, Rebecca Garcia, and Sandra Larios), Dr. Linda Juang (Psychology), and I went to the COR conference in Washington DC.  It was a great conference.  The Surgeon General and the Director of the National Institutes of Mental Health both spoke.  There were recruiters from Ph.D. programs across the United States.  The students are really excited about all of the opportunities that COR offers.

The Marian Wright Edelman Institute received a grant from the Miriam and Peter Haas Fund to work with City College of San Francisco on issues of articulation, advising, and outreach.  City College also received funding.  Both City College and MWEI will hire Training Coordinators to advise students, conduct outreach, and develop a joint web site.  As part of this grant we will develop and teach two new courses in infant mental health and leadership for undergraduate students.  Dr. Marci Hanson is a Co-Director of this grant.  She will develop circles of educators to build a collaborative network of early childhood educators in San Francisco, and she will organize two conferences focused on early childhood during the coming year.  We are looking forward to working with City College and the Community of Early Childhood Educators to meet the needs of students and members of our community.

Mission Science Workshop: The Art of Hands-On Learning

 Editor's Note: Dr. Paul Fonteyn, Associate Vice President and Dean of the Graduate Division at SFSU and Director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, serves as Principal Investigator for the Mission Science Workshop, a collaborative project supported by SFSU, the San Francisco Unified School District and City College of San Francisco.  It receives additional support from the Silver Giving Foundation and the McKesson Foundation. 

At the Mission Science Workshop in San Francisco, students don't use textbooks or computers or listen to lectures, yet science learning is clearly evident.  As Dan Sudran, director of the Workshop, sees it, getting practical, everyday objects into the hands of kids in ways that lead to broader questions is what science education is all about. 

"We offer kids a hands-on learning experience, provide tools and materials, nurture their inquisitive instincts, and encourage their artistic creativity.  Their vehicle for learning is the construction of a useful, beautiful, yet ordinary object, rather than a book or a lecture."  Students can share their newfound knowledge with fellow students back in the traditional classroom.  In this non-traditional way of developing scientific thought and exploration, students and teachers become partners in learning.

Founded in 1991 and located on the City College of San Francisco Mission Campus, Mission Science Workshop provides school children in the Mission District with access to science experiences and encourages people of all ages to approach science by discovering the natural world through hands-on experimentation.

Sudran's teaching philosophy centers on the synchronicity between the brain and hand: working together in harmony, they produce a "deeply satisfying and meaningful exploration."  However, working with one's hands, as Sudran admits, has fallen into disfavor in today's high tech world. 

Putting this theory into practice at the Workshop, Sudran created what he calls a shop class without limits.   Kids can experiment, make mistakes and find lessons in those mistakes.  Sudran and his bilingual staff have found that the key to reaching the at-risk young people Mission Science Workshop serves is to "get them to relate to what's real and practical, to what they encounter in their everyday lives."  Working with their hands is key. 

For example, one recently begun hands-on project involves high school students in the creation of a vegetable and flower garden.  The garden's planter boxes are decorated with ceramic tile murals made by the students that depict life during the Cambrian Period.  The garden is a living botany classroom while the mural teaches the origins of life

Janet Egiziano Named Director of Operations for the Edelman Institute

Janet Egiziano, former Administrative Manager of SFSU's Mathematics and Science Teacher Education Program (MASTEP), has been named Director of Operations for the Marian Wright Edelman Institute.  An employee of SFSU since 1997, Ms. Egiziano has also served in the Humanities Department as a Teaching Associate.

Ms. Egiziano brings to the Edelman Institute more than 18 years experience in non-profit management and grant administration including 10 years as Executive Director of the Institute of Real Estate Management, the educational arm of the National Association of REALTORS^ã.  A native of Dallas, Texas, Ms. Egiziano has also served as director of the Dallas-based Community Associations Institute as well as the Dallas chapter of the National Association of Industrial Office Parks.  After relocating to the Bay Area in 1992, she began working as a consultant under contract to Pacific Gas and Electric Company, writing and producing educational courses and designing marketing programs.

Ms. Egiziano received a BA in the Humanities from San Francisco State University in 1999 and completed an MA in Gender as Cultural Politics (Special Major) in May 2000.