• 221 visiting artists in dance, music, theatre, creative writing, and studio art from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences traveled for performances and residencies in schools in 27 Iowa communities in 2002-2003 under the ArtShare program. Art Share is a program under the Division of Performing Arts, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
• 1835 students in over 40 Iowa K-12 schools were able to watch and interact with world-class performers from Hancher Auditorium over the ICN, and through classroom and community visits.
• Hancher Auditorium’s Arts Across the Curriculum reached nearly 1000 K-12 students throughout Iowa by placing performing artists in residencies and have them perform at Iowa schools. Last year’s featured artist was Marcus Roberts.
• Traveling Culture Kits from the International Center and Time Capsules from the Office of the State Archeologist are available for loan to schools and libraries throughout the state

• 2966 high school students have participated in entrepreneurship programs since August 2000.
• 159 Iowa high school teachers have participated in entrepreneurship training through the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center.
• 170 Iowa schools have initiated entrepreneurship programs.

• The IowaePortfolio™ Model is one of the college’s largest outreach initiatives, reaching thousands of teachers and administrators across the state. Teachers learn to convert paper artifacts to electronic media that document their mastery of Iowa’s eight Teacher Quality Standards.
  
• In the past year, the Cedar Rapids School District, Des Moines Public Schools, Clear Creek-Amana, Grant Wood AEA, as well as many others have adopted the ePortfolio framework as their evaluation system. Schools from all over Iowa, including Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn, Sioux City, Exira, Ankeny, Green, Grinnell-Newburg, Delwood, Dubuque, Orient Macksburg, Urbandale, Burlington, and Turkey Valley have sent teachers to our workshops.
  
• After completing their training, they return to their schools and conduct workshops for other new teachers and experienced-career teachers. College staff consults by phone and email with dozens of external constituents as they implement the innovative framework. For more information, visit www.education.uiowa.edu/eportfolio/whitepaper.pdf.
  

• A series of educational television shows called Education at Iowa are created and broadcast weekly on UITV reaching thousands of eastern Iowans. As Dean Damico point out, “Education neither starts, nor stops at the classroom door.” For more information about specific programs, visit www.education.uiowa.edu/tv/.

• Annual International Day for 6-12 graders has served approximately 250 area students per year for the past seven years. This event centers on a present international issue or trend, especially those that deal with human rights.

• Iowa Testing Programs outreach in the past year:
  
  • Iowa Testing Programs supplied testing materials and scoring services for 370,000 Iowa students in grades K-12 from all public districts and most private schools in Iowa. The costs to Iowa schools are subsidized annually by about $2 million through national sales of the Iowa Tests.
  • 700 Iowa school administrators and teachers were provided professional development through 10 different on-site programs offered by Iowa Testing Programs at locations throughout the state.
  • Direct consultation and service were provided on a daily basis to Iowa educators by phone (50 calls/day) or by email (25 messages/day) to Iowa Testing Programs.
  • All Iowa schools obtained testing materials, scoring services, and consultation from Iowa Testing Programs on the use of these assessments: Iowa Writing Assessment, Iowa Listening Assessment, Iowa Algebra Aptitude Test, Constructed-Response Supplement, and Iowa Early Learning Inventory.
    
• Last year, Reading Recovery instruction helped 5,065 of Iowa’s lowest achievers. While all the students made progress, 2,882 students to accelerate their learning so that they performed at or above average after 12-20 weeks. Currently, Iowa has 624 Reading Recovery teachers in 396 schools in 213 districts.
  
• The Reading Recovery Center of Iowa (RRCI) is housed in the UI College of Education, with training occurring statewide. RRCI currently reaches 15 percent of all Iowa first graders, which represents the highest implementation rate nationally. Reading Recovery served 30,045 students in Iowa between 1991-2002.
  
• The Connie Belin and Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development outreach activities for the past year.
  
  • 30,000 Iowa school children participate in Invent Iowa, a program and curriculum that encourage K-12 students to explore the invention process. In 2003, 359 grades 3-12 Iowa students from 152 Iowa towns and cities and five international students from a school in India, displayed 285 inventions.
    
  • Schools in all of Iowa’s 15 AEAs—95 percent of which are considered rural or small—participate in the AP Online Academy, a program that delivers Advanced Placement (AP) courses to high school students across the stat utilizing online technology and the ICN. The focus is to provide AP access to rural and small schools, but is available to any accredited public or non-public school in Iowa. Last year, 971 Iowa students from 262 schools have registered to take one or more of the 15 AP courses offered. These students reside in 94 of Iowa’s 99 counties. The initial two-year grant of $1.6 million, awarded in 2001 by the Iowa Department of Education was topped with a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to continue the program through 2006.With a recent $1.2 million U.S. Department of Education grant, AP courses and related training will be made available to 50 Iowa middle and high schools where more than 40 percent of the students receive free or reduced lunches. Iowa ranked second in the nation this year in the terms of increasing the number of AP exams taken by junior and senior high school students. Iowa not only increased access to AP courses but the level of performance by Iowa’s students is among the best in the nation.
    
  • A $200,000 federal grant is being used to partner with Israeli educators to offer challenging mathematics and science curriculum to middle school students, not only during the Center’s summer programs for students, but also during an innovative year-round program.
    
  • School Counseling Professor Nick Colangelo leads an alternative high school program calledthe Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program. The Belin-Blank Center and the Iowa Dept. of Ed. will work with 3,000 students in seven alternative high schools across the state because it is believed that by uncovering hidden talents at an earlier age alternative school students may reach their full potential.
    
  • WINGS, the Weekend Institute for Gifted Students, is designed for talented 4th through 9th graders. The course content is both invigorating and challenging, and is designed to stimulate the interest and curiosity of bright students. There are no formal qualifications required to participate in WINGS. Students who attend are highly motivated prepared for fast-paced, challenging work.
    
  • Summer Programs—In addition to Challenges for Elementary School Districts (CHESS) for grades 3-6, Junior Scholars Academy (JSA) for grades 6-8, and National Scholars Academy (NSA) for grades 9-11, the Center offers many opportunities for summer educational advancement.
    
  • The Blank Summer Institute for the Arts & Sciences is a two-week residential summer program held at The University of Iowa for 100 of Iowa’s gifted students in grades 7 and 8. The Institute provides exceptionally talented students with an intensive and advanced educational experience designed to enhance their intellectual and social growth.
    
  • The Iowa Governor's Institute for the Gifted and Talented (IGI) is a two-week residential program at The University of Iowa for 72 of Iowa’s gifted students in grades 7 and 8. The Institute provides exceptionally talented students with an intensive and advanced educational experience designed to enhance their intellectual and social growth.
    
  • The Asian & Pacific Studies Institute (APSI) is a one-week residential summer program at The University of Iowa for 14 gifted students who are in grades 9-11. APSI provides talented students with an intensive and advanced educational experience designed to enhance their intellectual and social growth.
    
  • The Environmental Health Sciences Institute for Rural Youth (EHSI) is a one-week residential summer program at The University of Iowa for 15 of rural Iowa’s gifted students who are in 9th grade and have a strong interest in learning about environmental health sciences. EHSI provides talented students with an intensive and advanced educational experience designed to enhance their intellectual and social growth through the integration of environmental health sciences topics and research.
    
  • The Foreign Language Summer Institute (FLSI) is a one-week residential summer program at The University of Iowa for 16 gifted students who are in grades 9-11. FLSI provides talented students with an intensive and advanced educational experience designed to enhance their intellectual and social growth.
    
  • The Wallace Summer Institute for Rural Scholars (WSI) is a one-week residential summer program at The University of Iowa for 15 of rural Iowa’s gifted students who are in grades 10-11. WSI provides talented students with an intensive and advanced educational experience designed to enhance their intellectual and social growth.
    
• English Language Learners Project—is a partnership with the Iowa Department of Education in a new, joint effort to identify gifted, English Language Learners in the state of Iowa. This initiative is recognized as a special project of the Iowa Department of Education’s federal grant, “Our Kids,” which focuses on enhancing the education of all students who are English Language Learners. Center’s role in this initiative is to develop procedures and guidelines for teachers and administrators to use in the discovery of students who are both gifted and English Language Learners. To this end, a manual will be created for teachers and consultants in the state of Iowa to facilitate the identification of these youngsters. Workshops also will be offered that will demonstrate how to make effective use of the manual. Twice Exceptional: Gifted Children with Disabilities—is a program that provides participants with the opportunity to focus on understanding some of the issues associated with Twice-Exceptional learners. It facilitates the understanding of the social-emotional and educational issues connected with twice-exceptional learners and their teachers because some of the most academically advanced learners may also experience severe learning difficulties. This program helps teachers identify and create appropriate programming for twice-exceptional learners because research has found that academic strengths can mask serious difficulties in learning and by the same token, significant learning deficiencies imposed by a disability can hide academic ability.

• Advanced Placement Incentive Program provides AP opportunities for students from high-poverty schools in Iowa.
  
• BESTS, the Belin-Blank Exceptional Student Talent Search, is an opportunity for students to take part in an enjoyable and academically stimulating experience to learn more about their academic strengths. It is also a chance for parents and educators to discover the level of academic challenge appropriate for their students.
  
• Challenge-Math Program is designed as an intensive mentorship program to strengthen and accelerate 5th-6th grade students pre-algebra and algebra skills. Students receive direct instruction and independent work. Additional challenge problems will be provided during each session for home exploration. Sample topics are: problem solving strategies, algebra skills, metric system, computation with decimals and fractions, perimeter, circumference, area, volume, and percents.

• The Iowa Talent Project (ITP) works to identify and select minority and economically disadvantaged talented and gifted students from the Des Moines School District. This collaborative program between the Belin-Blank Center and the Des Moines School District focuses on talented and gifted students in the 7th grade who qualify to take upper-level or advanced course offerings as they move through the secondary school system. The goal of ITP is to assist students to recognize and identify their high achievement abilities and to take advantage of rigorous curriculum that would challenge these abilities. ITP participants are encouraged to pursue their potential for academic and professional growth through first hand experience within a post-secondary environment at The University of Iowa.
  
• ITP High School Level—Iowa Talent Project participants attend a three-week summer residential program held at The University of Iowa in Iowa City. Classes are designed to improve students’ critical reading and writing skills. During the summer session, students also have opportunities for recreational and cultural experiences while in residence.
  
• ITP University Level
• The National Academy of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering (NAASE) introduced one of the most exciting University-based programs in America for students with high academic ability. Some of the best students in the United States became a part of the academy’s inaugural class at The University of Iowa. NAASE is the only program of its kind in a major research institution. It is an early entrance program that allows select students who have completed course work equivalent to the junior year in high school a chance to accelerate their academic careers and move into the stimulation of University research and course work. Academy students are accepted automatically as first-year students into The University of Iowa Honors Program and live together on the honors floors in the residence halls. Academy students receive continuing opportunities for cultural and social interaction and leadership development. Experienced counselors and advisers assist them, and caring faculty members dedicated to this program's goals help them achieve.

• Project ACHIEVE’s goal is to develop a model pre-college program with a focus on mathematics for gifted minority students and to create a cadre of highly motivated minority students who are well prepared for college and university education. The priority of Project ACHIEVE is not to enter college but to graduate from college. The most dramatic impact of Project ACHIEVE is that it has “proven” to the students, teachers, and administrators at the home schools that they have students who can pass a college-level calculus exam. Calculus is not part of the curriculum in their schools. The consortium schools are considering changing the math curriculum so that calculus can become a part of the curriculum. Also, a number of teachers from the consortium of inner-city schools have completed Belin-Blank Center teacher training courses where they learned methods of teaching high ability students. These teachers also act as “in-house resources” for other teachers in their schools. Project ACHIEVE has included students from Tilden, Westinghouse, Englewood, and Kelvyn Park high schools in Chicago. Amoco Corporation was an original partner. The high number of Project ACHIEVE students who are now attending The University of Iowa and other colleges and universities are proof of the positive effects of “opening doors” for young people.
  
• When the Belin-Blank Center hosts their Recognition Ceremony every other year, it reaches nearly 1,500 of Iowa’s top students and the teachers they select as being the most influential in their lives.
  
• With the help of a $718,42 federal grant, the center will work with the UI History dept., AEA 267 (based in Cedar Falls and serves schools in 18 Iowa counties), the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, and the Grout Museum of History and Science to enhance American history teaching, both in terms of content and instructional methods, at the elementary and secondary levels.
  
• Clinical Professor Susan Assouline is involved with several outreach projects through the Belin Blank Center. She works with high-ability students in math and the Iowa Acceleration Scale.

• Science Education Professor Robert Yager received a $90,000 grant from the Iowa’s Teacher Quality State Grant Program for his project, the Iowa Chautauqua Assisting with Reforms Project. The project seeks to foster collaboration among 36 teachers primarily from Charles City and Cedar Falls. The teachers take part in a two-week summer workshop, three-day short courses in the fall of 2003 and spring of 2004, and ongoing collaboration through web-based interactions learning how to adapt science class teaching methods promoted by the National Science Foundation in grades K-9.
  

• Science Education Lecturer John Dunkhase received a $90,000 grant from the Iowa’s Teacher Quality State Grant Program for his project, the Science and Mathematics Inquiry Learning Enhancement (SMILE). The project is a collaboration involving the UI Science Education Center, the science and mathematics faculty, the Grant Wood AEA, and five eastern Iowa school districts to increase science and math achievement of all grade 5-8 students who qualify for free and reduced-priced meals.

• Science Education Professor Edward Pizzini is working with 79 teachers from 38 different schools across Iowa in the “Teachers as Action Researchers” project. The focus is on implementing Action Research in their classroom, as the vehicle for professional development, to improve classroom practice, and to raise student achievement scores. The participating teachers have an impact on 4,656 K-10 students. Forty-eight of the teachers are served weekly via the ICN.

• SNAG: Science—Narrowing the Achievement Gap project led by Science Education Professor Edward Pizzini. Under this project, students who come from high poverty, low socio-economic backgrounds and who are underachievers will be tracked to determine whether the achievement gap between them and their peers narrows. Their teachers will learn professional development to assist them in teaching these groups of students.

• Mathematics Education Lecturer Teresa Finken works with group of 18 K-6 teachers twice a month at Iowa City’s Weber Elementary School on a form of professional development known as Lesson Study. Lesson Study addresses current teacher quality issues facing schools: content knowledge, student-centered pedagogy, attrition, migration, turnover, and too-early retirement.

• CiviConnections: Constructing the Past, Creating the Future is a national, federally funded program linking history, civics, and service. In May 2004, Associate Professor Rahima Wade will direct 33 teams of three teachers from schools or districts will be awarded grants of $7,500 to not just talk about history, but to lead their students in developing solutions for social problems in their communities when they put those ideas to work. A smaller, select group of teachers will be chosen from among the first year’s participants to serve as mentors for the second and third years of the grant. When the individual projects are completed, the classes will be expected to coordinate a community-wide celebration, giving presentations in their schools, civic centers, or other community venues. The projects will also be reported on in publications produced through the grant. For more information about the CiviConnections project, visit the NCSS website at www.ncss.org/civiconnections/home.shtml.
  

• The Iowa Department of Education contracted The University of Iowa College of Education to conduct a series of field tests in about 200 Iowa Schools aimed at studying the impact of using the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) and Iowa Tests of Educational Development (ITED) as part of Iowa’s Accountability Plan for the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act. Four-member teams from every Iowa school district were provided professional development through a series of workshops held in 12 locations statewide and through a set of ICN presentations sent to 120 locations statewide. Research beginning fall 2004 will study the impact of changing the stakes associated with the use of the ITBS and ITED by Iowa schools (e.g., score inflation, increase in test preparation activities, narrowing of the curriculum). It is imperative that the impact of using the ITBS and ITED for accountability purposes be monitored in order to identify and minimize potential negative consequences resulting from the uses of the test. It is important to recognize that increases in test scores may or may not be a result of improved achievement. Even if the increase in test scores reflects true improvement in achievement, this “improvement” may have come at a high cost (i.e., at the expense of other important educational outcomes).

• Counseling Psychology Professor John Westefeld provides ongoing consultation for thousands of people affected by suicide, including about 100 people in Grinnell, Iowa (re: their suicides last spring). This spring he will present a 3-hour workshop for approximately two dozen deans of students from many of Iowa’s colleges entitled, “Suicide: Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention.”

• School Psychology Associate Professor Kit Gerken leads efforts at the Broadway Neighborhood Center for School Psychology graduate students to work with five year olds from Iowa City’s lowest income families. They provide skill assessment, functional analysis, and tutoring every Wednesday evening.

• School Psychology Associate Professor Kit Gerken and Lecturer Christine Novak developed a program where their graduate students work with more than two-dozen students, ranging in age from 14-20, enrolled at the ECHO Alternative High School in Tiffin, Iowa. Their outreach work varies, but always includes group work with a different focus, such as human rights, respecting differences, and volunteering.

• Social Foundations Associate Professor Scott McNabb works with local elementary social studies students on a human rights outreach project with Cambodia. The schoolchildren wrote letters to students in a school and sent cash for a Cambodian land mine victim to buy a new limb. They also sent school supplies.

• Measurement and Statistics Professor Stephen Dunbar has two new assessment initiatives with schools in the state. One is the development of statewide alternate assessments of reading and math skills for English language learners in grades 3-12. The other is an assessment of English language proficiency led by Foreign Language Education Associate Professor Micheline Chalhoub-Deville.

• Art Education Professor Rachel Williams teaches art at the ECHO Alternative High School in Tiffin, and involves her College of Education Art Education students with a weekly art program at the school.

• Career Development for School-aged Children from Rural and Low Socio-economic Backgrounds is a career intervention program developed by Counseling Psychology Assistant Professor Saba Rasheed Ali for a number of Iowa schools, including as West Liberty.

• Social Adjustment and Academic Achievement in Iowa Children from Minority and Low Economic Backgrounds is a short-term counseling intervention for homeless families in Iowa City developed by Counseling Psychology Assistant Professor Will Liu.

• Early Childhood Literature/Elementary Education Associate Professor Kathy Whitmore developed a highly successful literacy program called Escula Familia for Iowa City elementary school Horace Mann’s growing number of Spanish-speaking students.

• College of Education and University students interested in tutoring adults volunteer to staff the Adult Literacy Project in West Liberty created and directed by Literacy Education Associate Professor Carolyn Colvin. This program helps increase literacy among immigrant families in West Liberty, Iowa.

• Each semester nearly 50 tutors (mostly teacher education students) work individually with children experiencing a prolonged difficulty learning to read through the America Reads program led by Literacy/Elementary Education Associate Professor Linda Fielding.

• Allison Aubert, an undergraduate Secondary Education Social Studies student, started an after-school reading and tutoring program at West Liberty Elementary using College of Education students as tutors. Over 50 students signed up for the program. Principal Nancy Gardner says the program was fabulous and really admires Allison’s work.
  

• Elementary Education Clinical Assistant Professor Pam Ries continues to teach the Every Child Reads classes for three to five year olds for the Jefferson/Keokuk empowerment board. This semester the focus is upon homecare providers in those two counties. During the summer and University holidays, she continues to work for Southern Prairie AEA. This year she spent most of her time with Fox Valley Elementary and Harmony Elementary schools consulting in the area of language arts. She will direct the ICAM scoring project for that AEA in June. She also serves on the Parent Advisory Committee for Pekin High School.

• Social Foundations Associate Professor Scott McNabb serves the state as an ex-officio member on the state board of the Iowa Association for Alternative Education, an organization that provides professional support for alternative school teachers. Since accepting the position in 1994, he’s become intimately aware of teachers’ challenges and innovations by studying specific alternative education projects and educators.

• Last year, School Counseling Assistant Professor Tarrell Portman made 15 presentations throughout Iowa, traveling over 800 miles and meeting with nearly 300 school counselors and administrators.

• School Counseling Professor David Jepsen serves as vice-chair of the Governing Board of the FINE (First in the Nation in Education) Foundation. Tasks involve setting and implementing policy including funding research (supporting grants), applying knowledge (apply research in classrooms), sharing knowledge (conferences, newsletter, research papers), and identifying excellence (honoring schools, programs, and research). The policies effect as many as 25 school districts in Iowa and approximately half dozen researchers each year, as well as the many Iowa educators who attend annual conference (about 100) and who read the materials from FINE.

• Elementary Education Clinical Assistant Professor Pam Ries continues to teach the Every Child Reads classes for 3-5 year olds for the Jefferson/Keokuk empowerment board. This semester the focus is upon homecare providers in those two counties.

College of Engineering

• In partnership with Iowa State University College of Engineering, the College awards $500 and $1,000 scholarships annually to winners of the Future City Regional Competition, MATHCOUNTS state competition, Eastern Iowa Science and Engineering Fair, and Invent Iowa State competition. Semi-annually, College hosts state competition, attended by about 400 student entries and 2,000 family members and friends on the Iowa City campus.
• College conducts seminars and research tours for students enrolled in the Iowa Junior Science and Humanities Symposium on the Iowa City campus.
• Using a grant received from ALCOA, the College of Engineering has organized a two-week academic summer camp called ACE Academy. The academy is designed to serve a diverse representation of middle and high school youth interested in math, science, technology, and communication. The program encourages greater involvement in higher level coursework, contests, school clubs, and personal commitment to extended learning opportunities.
• The Summer Institute for Creative Engineering and Inventiveness (SICEI), a collaborative program of The University of Iowa's College of Engineering and the Belin-Blank Center, is a two-week residential summer program for gifted high school students who are currently enrolled in grades 9-11. The institute is a unique opportunity for select high school students to participate in a sophisticated engineering project. Students work as a team with engineering faculty and practicing engineers to solve an actual engineering problem, developing technical skills and knowledge and learning team problem solving skills.
• The student chapter of the Society of Women Engineers conducts school presentations and visits to campus for high school students throughout the academic year – illustrating what engineers do and the opportunities available to women in the engineering profession.
• Middle- and high-school student field trips are conducted at the College, involving math, talented and gifted, and service organization students throughout the academic year.

• International Classroom Journey --3152 school children in 21 Iowa counties were reached by UI International Programs through international classroom visits, presentations by international and study abroad student volunteers, International Programs open house, and four special K-12 Iowa Communications Network programs: China—A Nation of Five Thousand Years, Study Abroad, What Islam Means to Me and International Programs Writer-In-Residence.
  
• Writer-In-Residence -- International Programs Writer-In-Residence, fiction writer Paula Morris from New Zealand, conducted 16 presentations in schools, libraries, senior centers and other community organizations, reaching approximately 270 middle and high school students and numerous others in the spring of 2003.
  
• Summer Institute for Teachers -- 21 educators from 11 Iowa counties attended this weeklong teacher workshop focused on the Middle East.
  
• Summer Camp -- 20 children ages 8-10 participated in a weeklong summer camp with the theme “ Africa is Not a Country”.

• The School of Journalism and Mass Communication offers a journalism “boot camp” for minority students in Davenport elementary schools, working with Quad Cities high schools and the media.
• The Colleges of Education, Engineering and Liberal Arts and Sciences organize a variety of K-12 academic competitions in the fields of Latin, Japanese, computer programming, mathematics and urban planning.
• Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has a donation program which donates used and surplus equipment to high schools throughout Iowa.

• Pharmacy students met with over 500 students in Eastern Iowa to discuss medication safety and poison prevention in the Katy’s Kids program. This interactive safety program discusses safety facts and increases awareness in elementary age children and instructs them what to do if they or a peer ingests poison.

• The Carver College of Medicine’s Virtual Hospital – a digital library of health information produced by faculty and staff memberes – shares its information resources widely with Iowa public schools and libraries. This year in fact, more than 2,000 teacher kids, including posters, bookmarks, and brochures are being distributed to high school teachers and community librarians to promote use of VH health education and medical science materials in classroom instruction.

• Sixty high school students participated in the McElroy Health Sciences Summer Camp
• Twenty high school students participated in Des Moines Area Community College Opportunity at Iowa Camp

• Tutoring through the Meskwaki and MESA tutoring programs
• A bi-weekly radio show in Waterloo, Iowa
• High school banquets for Latinos and African Americans in the Quad Cities and Latinos in Muscatine
• Cedar Rapids Academy – a six week summer program for African American students aimed to enhance self-concept and increase academic achievement
• A weekly radio show in Des Moines
• A Pen Pal program between University of Iowa students and children in elementary schools in Iowa City and West Branch
• Staff participation in career, college and leadership conferences throughout the state

• Department of Occupational and Environmental Health faculty serve as mentors for the Secondary Student Training Programs introducing research to high school students. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health conducts a variety of educational seminars for children in grades K-12.
• Environmental Health Sciences Research Center (EHSRC) is active in the “Environmental Health Sciences Institute for Rural Youth,” a one week residential program conducted each summer for 15 junior high and high school students from communities of 2500 or less. Students have represented many Iowa counties including Appanoose, Benton, Buchanan, Cass, Dallas, Delaware, Plymouth, Pottawattamie, Story, Winneshiek, Worth and Wright.