The Key is Partnership: When a 5th grade teacher was asked to talk about ESEP, her face beamed a smile as she said, “The kids get the best of both worlds.” She explained that the children work with an experienced teacher, a young and enthusiastic scientist role model and materials, and they do fun science three hours a week. Science used to be a subject that was textbook driven and wedged into the curriculum. It was a chore like washing the dishes; it was required, boring and frustrating for many children. With a college partner, inquiry-based science experiments and modular science kit curriculum, many teachers echo that teacher's enthusiasm when she said, “…now I have ventured outside of the book [and] use other resources. I no longer worry, if there is no lesson plan in the textbook on a science topic.”

After planing and agreeing on the science subjects to teach, college science-partners bring in exciting experiments or facilitate science-kit lessons with the teacher. This relieves the teacher from the process of locating and securing materials, making sure that the proposed experimental procedure works and that the conceptual information is accurate. Emory student, Emily Krauss, states “They (the children) expect me to be the one that knows all about science, like more concepts, instead of just the answers to questions.” Teachers’ strengths lie in the integration of subjects and directing the energies of the children. “We both do everything together, we teach and we have to be class managers”, our 5th grade teacher continues about her Emory partner.

A third grade teacher relates that “Partnering has made me more motivated about teaching science…. This kind of science fits in with what I want to do in the classroom. I like to connect science with other subjects like social studies.” She helps her college science-partners by giving them pointers in classroom management. In her classroom, the children contribute to the process of deciding what science to study. Both she and her Emory college science-partner were surprised when a group of children who went to choir practice during science time returned right away. When asked, the children reportedly said that they told their choir teacher they had an important experiment to do with their college partner in science and they did not want to miss it!

Supportive school administrators are an integral part of the ESEP science partnership. An Emory student said, “When the administrators I have known are excited to see partners and get to know our names it makes me think they like having the kids in their schools do more science.” Principals and instructional specialists that ask about, observe or participate in ESEP science validate the experience for all of the students, college partners and teachers in the school.

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