Recently, the Perot Museum of Natural Science announced it was teaming up with Kosmos Energy to improve science education.
The Kosmos Energy STEM Teacher Institute is providing weeklong training sessions this summer for 160 North Texas teachers. Additionally, those teachers will receive support from Perot Museum educators throughout the coming school year.
Over the course of the next three years, the cost for the teacher training program is anticipated to be almost $800,000. Kosmos, a Bermuda-based energy company that maintains an office in Dallas, is investing $450,000 into the program. Another $150,000 will be provided by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent federal agency.
Colleen Walker, the Perot Museum CEO, believes the training courses will enable the teachers who receive the coaching to inspire thousands of students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) courses. However, Perot officials are leaving nothing to chance and will be conducting independent evaluations to ascertain the effectiveness of the training.
In addition to learning how science is applied in real world situations, the teachers will also be shown how to make use of teaching resources such as using rocks, Epsom salt, marshmallows, and beads to drive home concepts such as density, mass, and volume.
Museums make ample use of brochure and flyer printing services in their everyday operation and will likely extend this to these teacher training classes.
