Will Green
Midland, Texas

Teaching the Teachers

YEA Activities

Getting Back to Nature

And the Winners Are ...

Reaching Out

Back to School

A Family Affair

Going With the Flow

Passion + Geology = Normal

Teaching the Teachers

The West Texas Geology Foundation sponsored a workshop for elementary school science teachers on June 3-5 in San Angelo at Central High School. Thirteen elementary school teachers learned to teach the module "Energy: A Closer Look at Oil and Gas."

The Denver Earth Science Project, a branch of the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo., developed the module with input from oil and gas professionals. The workshop leader was Jackie McMillan, a fourth grade teacher at Jones Elementary in Midland, Texas.

Each teacher was given a notebook with lesson plans and activities and a resource kit filled with materials for demonstration and experiment. The teachers visited a drilling rig, talked to independent geologists and looked at rock cuttings, among other things -- all to enable teachers to explain the oil and gas business at the student's own grade level.

The workshop was funded by generous contributions from Burlington Resources and the Fasken Foundation, one of six sponsored by the WTG Foundation since 1996. Foundations, oil companies and individuals have contributed a total of $40,390 to WTGF to present these workshops.