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Colorado BioScience Association Announces 2009 Education Initiatives
Denver, CO
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Colorado BioScience Association
The Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) has embarked on an ambitious roster of education initiatives this year. The organization is again sponsoring a high school biology teacher in a paid externship program at a member bioscience company, participating in the new statewide Elementary Science Teacher Leadership Academy, and partnering with the BioNimbus organization to create a new database that better connect teachers, schools and companies.
Denver, Co, August 6, 2009 – The Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) has embarked on an ambitious roster of education initiatives this year. The announcement is made by John Collar, CBSA President & CEO, who says the organization is again sponsoring a high school biology teacher in a paid externship program at a member bioscience company, participating in the new statewide Elementary Science Teacher Leadership Academy, and partnering with the BioNimbus organization to create a new database that better connect teachers, schools and companies.
"The CBSA is committed to finding ways to inform the K-12 science educators about jobs within the bioscience industry. We have heard from our bioscience company members that they want the CBSA to focus on promoting bioscience careers within local schools and we think our externship program, now in its second year, is an excellent method of doing so," Kevin Smith, Chair of the CBSA's Education and Workforce Committee, explains. "The CBSA is also engaging in new programs to cultivate a love for science in our students, and help teachers in this quest."
CBSA's Summer Externship Program
Tammy Heartly, a Fairview High School biology teacher, is the second teacher to take part in the CBSA's externship program and has spent part of her summer at OSI Pharmaceuticals in Boulder. Her experience at OSI includes investigating a preservative on a tissue sample to see if the preservative will keep the tissue's DNA intact and show whether the use of the preservative will allow the DNA to sequence correctly.
"I try to be so careful and still things go wrong," explains Heartly. "I think it helps when you start to see the big picture and know what direction you are heading. It seems like a great deal of fun and adventure at first, but there's a significant learning curve and I get a 'brain-full' of new information every single day."
According to Heartly, the externship experience has given her a better perspective on what companies are doing with science and biology, and this new perspective will no doubt help her engage and interest students in science in the future.
OSI Pharmaceuticals is committed to "shaping medicine and changing lives" by discovering, developing and commercializing high-quality, novel and differentiated personalized medicines designed to extend life and improve the quality of life for patients with cancer and diabetes/obesity. For more information, visit http://www.osip.com
Elementary Science Teacher Leadership Academy
The Elementary Science Teacher Leadership Academy is a consortium of 15 districts statewide that have come together over the last two years to form an action plan addressing this crisis in Colorado. The Academy provides a forum for teachers, principals and districts to better learn how to teach inquiry based critical thinking and in turn impact their student's ability to be proficient in the sciences and math. In their efforts, it is imperative that these teachers, and their students, have an industry partner to bring hands-on knowledge to the classroom which is where the CBSA and its membership will come together and bring science education to the forefront.
"The CBSA is excited to be a part of this initiative," said April Giles, Vice President of Administration and Operations for the CBSA. "The Academy is an ideal forum to engage teachers on the importance of the bioscience industry and to then bring that excitement and opportunity to their students at an early age. The partnerships between industry and teachers, schools and their districts will provide additional hands-on resource for students to learn the real life implications of their lesson plans."
The Elementary Science Teacher Leadership Academy began about two years ago when the science teachers form 15 districts across the state began a discussion on how to better teach science. The Academy will bring the science teachers across the state together to learn from one another on how to teach science and math more effectively and engage students. The official launch of the Elementary Science Teacher Leadership Academy will be in October, 2009.
New Database Connecting Teachers, Schools & Companies
In order to assist science teachers within the classroom, the CBSA and BioNimbus, a bioscience consulting firm, are creating a database to connect teachers, schools and companies. This database will allow teachers and schools to place their 'wish list' of materials needed for the science classroom on the site and for companies to connect with those schools and teachers when they have the desired materials.
"Our schools are working on limited budgets as is, and with the quality control that the bioscience industry faces excess materials and equipment often go to waste," explains John Collar. "With this database program, the bioscience industry will be able to help restock the classroom with needed materials and enhance the science education being taught. We all loved the science experiments when we were in school, so hopefully this program will allow for more hands on science to be taught with fewer burdens on our school system."
With over 85 years of cumulative experience from start-up to large pharmaceutical companies, BioNimbus is an exciting new company of like-minded people, each of us expert in our field. Our aim is to be with our clients from the early stages right through and to product approval and to help them plan and execute the necessary steps in product and business development to greatly increase their probability of success. For more information, visit http://www.bionimbus.com
Join the CBSA on August 11th at the Scientific Education & Research Institute (SERI) to learn more about these education initiatives and how you can become involved. For more information on this event, please visit https://events.cobioscience.com/index.cfm?action=event&eventid=247
About the Colorado Bioscience Association
The CBSA is a not-for-profit corporation providing services and support for Colorado's growing biosciences industry. With more than 400 members, CBSA actively works to promote the growth of the industry by working for a better business environment, grow the state's biotech workforce, fight for policies that support a strong bioscience industry in the state and speak with a single voice on behalf of the industry. For more information, visit http://www.cobioscience.com
Contacts:
Leah Kientz, Director of Public Policy and Programs, Colorado BioScience Association– http://www.cobioscience.com – 303-592-4088, Lkientz@cobioscience.com
Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, Absolutely PR – http://www.absolutelypr.com –
303-984-9801, maggie@absolutelypr.com
Denver, Co, August 6, 2009 – The Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) has embarked on an ambitious roster of education initiatives this year. The announcement is made by John Collar, CBSA President & CEO, who says the organization is again sponsoring a high school biology teacher in a paid externship program at a member bioscience company, participating in the new statewide Elementary Science Teacher Leadership Academy, and partnering with the BioNimbus organization to create a new database that better connect teachers, schools and companies.
"The CBSA is committed to finding ways to inform the K-12 science educators about jobs within the bioscience industry. We have heard from our bioscience company members that they want the CBSA to focus on promoting bioscience careers within local schools and we think our externship program, now in its second year, is an excellent method of doing so," Kevin Smith, Chair of the CBSA's Education and Workforce Committee, explains. "The CBSA is also engaging in new programs to cultivate a love for science in our students, and help teachers in this quest."
CBSA's Summer Externship Program
Tammy Heartly, a Fairview High School biology teacher, is the second teacher to take part in the CBSA's externship program and has spent part of her summer at OSI Pharmaceuticals in Boulder. Her experience at OSI includes investigating a preservative on a tissue sample to see if the preservative will keep the tissue's DNA intact and show whether the use of the preservative will allow the DNA to sequence correctly.
"I try to be so careful and still things go wrong," explains Heartly. "I think it helps when you start to see the big picture and know what direction you are heading. It seems like a great deal of fun and adventure at first, but there's a significant learning curve and I get a 'brain-full' of new information every single day."
According to Heartly, the externship experience has given her a better perspective on what companies are doing with science and biology, and this new perspective will no doubt help her engage and interest students in science in the future.
OSI Pharmaceuticals is committed to "shaping medicine and changing lives" by discovering, developing and commercializing high-quality, novel and differentiated personalized medicines designed to extend life and improve the quality of life for patients with cancer and diabetes/obesity. For more information, visit http://www.osip.com
Elementary Science Teacher Leadership Academy
The Elementary Science Teacher Leadership Academy is a consortium of 15 districts statewide that have come together over the last two years to form an action plan addressing this crisis in Colorado. The Academy provides a forum for teachers, principals and districts to better learn how to teach inquiry based critical thinking and in turn impact their student's ability to be proficient in the sciences and math. In their efforts, it is imperative that these teachers, and their students, have an industry partner to bring hands-on knowledge to the classroom which is where the CBSA and its membership will come together and bring science education to the forefront.
"The CBSA is excited to be a part of this initiative," said April Giles, Vice President of Administration and Operations for the CBSA. "The Academy is an ideal forum to engage teachers on the importance of the bioscience industry and to then bring that excitement and opportunity to their students at an early age. The partnerships between industry and teachers, schools and their districts will provide additional hands-on resource for students to learn the real life implications of their lesson plans."
The Elementary Science Teacher Leadership Academy began about two years ago when the science teachers form 15 districts across the state began a discussion on how to better teach science. The Academy will bring the science teachers across the state together to learn from one another on how to teach science and math more effectively and engage students. The official launch of the Elementary Science Teacher Leadership Academy will be in October, 2009.
New Database Connecting Teachers, Schools & Companies
In order to assist science teachers within the classroom, the CBSA and BioNimbus, a bioscience consulting firm, are creating a database to connect teachers, schools and companies. This database will allow teachers and schools to place their 'wish list' of materials needed for the science classroom on the site and for companies to connect with those schools and teachers when they have the desired materials.
"Our schools are working on limited budgets as is, and with the quality control that the bioscience industry faces excess materials and equipment often go to waste," explains John Collar. "With this database program, the bioscience industry will be able to help restock the classroom with needed materials and enhance the science education being taught. We all loved the science experiments when we were in school, so hopefully this program will allow for more hands on science to be taught with fewer burdens on our school system."
With over 85 years of cumulative experience from start-up to large pharmaceutical companies, BioNimbus is an exciting new company of like-minded people, each of us expert in our field. Our aim is to be with our clients from the early stages right through and to product approval and to help them plan and execute the necessary steps in product and business development to greatly increase their probability of success. For more information, visit http://www.bionimbus.com
Join the CBSA on August 11th at the Scientific Education & Research Institute (SERI) to learn more about these education initiatives and how you can become involved. For more information on this event, please visit https://events.cobioscience.com/index.cfm?action=event&eventid=247
About the Colorado Bioscience Association
The CBSA is a not-for-profit corporation providing services and support for Colorado's growing biosciences industry. With more than 400 members, CBSA actively works to promote the growth of the industry by working for a better business environment, grow the state's biotech workforce, fight for policies that support a strong bioscience industry in the state and speak with a single voice on behalf of the industry. For more information, visit http://www.cobioscience.com
Contacts:
Leah Kientz, Director of Public Policy and Programs, Colorado BioScience Association– http://www.cobioscience.com – 303-592-4088, Lkientz@cobioscience.com
Maggie Chamberlin Holben, APR, Absolutely PR – http://www.absolutelypr.com –
303-984-9801, maggie@absolutelypr.com
Maggie Holben
Media Consultant
Absolutely Public Relations
Lakewood, CO
303-984-9801
