Initial Publication Date: July 9, 2022
2011 Winners of Dorothy LaLonde Stout Professional Development Grants
Pete Berquist is the chair of the Geology Department at Thomas Nelson Community College in Hampton, Virginia. The funds received from this award will support a unique partnership between two community colleges that collectively developed and offer a two-week, four-credit field course exploring the regional geology of the northern Rocky Mountains throughout Montana and Wyoming.
Shelley Jaye is in her 12th year of teaching as a second career. Currently at Northern Virginia Community College, she plans to use the funds to attend the "On the Cutting Edge" workshop in Teaching Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry in the 21st Century, which will include a three-day field trip to focus on teaching and learning in the field.
Kimberly Thompson is a kindergarten teacher in Snellville, Georgia. She plans to use the funds from the Dorothy Stout grant to purchase Earth science supplies and materials such as supplemental rock collections, specialty rocks, and lab activity sets to create science experiences that evoke a "sense of curiosity and wonder" about the Earth sciences. She also plans to present a mini-workshop to fellow teachers so that they can re-deliver these experiences to students on various grade levels.
Christine Witkowski is in her first year as a faculty member at Middlesex Community College in Connecticut. She is the coordinator of an environmental science program that is transitioning to a more field-oriented curriculum. She will use her Dottie Stout funds to attend a three-day workshop on teaching with geospatial technology and to purchase several GPS units for community mapping activities with students.