Project VIEW collaboration brings Panamanian rainforest experience into Schalmont classrooms

All about the trip!

The Schalmont Teachers’ Institute is pleased to announce an exciting, educational collaboration with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and Project VIEW.  Four Schalmont teachers have been invited to visit the STRI facility on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal area, to develop curriculum and lessons for a video-conferencing program on the rain forest aimed at K-12 students both locally and nation-wide. The purpose of this curriculum is to improve student learning in the areas of Science, Social Studies, and English Language Arts.

As part of the curriculum development process, teachers have already participated in curriculum development at the SERC in Maryland for two days. Visit the SERC page to learn more about what happened on this exciting trip.

After visiting the SERC, an invitation was extended by the Smithsonian to visit their private research island where the teachers will experience a tropical rainforest climate, interact with world-renowned scientists and collect information to enrich their educational background on rainforests. Various funding sources have been utilized to make this trip a reality, with Project View and SERC generously providing the bulk of the money needed. In fact, Schalmont's only financial obligation is to cover the substitute costs while the teachers are away. 

While the teachers are working in Barro Colorado, students will have an opportunity to interact with them through a video-conference/webcast. Teachers will also be posting online journals and answering student questions while they are away. Follow the links to your left to learn a little bit about each teacher and read their online journal!

It is both and honor and a privilege to be selected to be leaders in a  project of this magnitude. Schalmont students will benefit immensely from having their teachers involved at this level, because no one is more familiar with a specific curriculum than the people who write it. This is the third project VIEW video-conferencing project that Schalmont teachers have helped develop.  Teachers in the Middle School developed curriculum for an integrated project with the Buffalo Zoo about gorillas, which has been used in classrooms for three years.  Middle School math teachers developed curriculum for the Baseball Hall of Fame, which has been utilized with students for two years. Teachers in each of these projects have observed an increase in student productivity in their classroom.  

Click here to see images from the videoconference with students at Jefferson Elementary