If math and science are not your child's favorite school subjects right now, they might soon be.
The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy celebrated the opening Thursday of its new Metro-East Field Office at Lindenwood University in Belleville. The office will provide math and science instruction to metro-east teachers to will help them focus their lessons on inquiry and discovery. It will provide students with after school, weekend and summer programs. And it hopes to build relationships with the community through program coordination with local organizations.
"It's a great opportunity to work more closely with the talented students and community there (in Southern Illinois)," IMSA President Dr. Max McGee said.
The Belleville office will serve students and teachers in Jersey, Macoupin, Madison and St. Clair counties.
Other participants of the event included state Sen. James F. Clayborne Jr., D-Belleville, state Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson Sr., D-East St. Louis, and Ann Reinhardt, district office manger to state Rep. Thomas Holbrook., D-Belleville.
McGee said the office will have programs for students and teachers to attend, and will also set up programs in schools throughout the metro-east area to get them excited about math and science.
"I can't wait to have the faculty get started," he said. "We're all excited to begin the programs and to have a presence in the community."
IMSA is a teaching and learning laboratory created by the state of Illinois to advance education through research, groundbreaking ventures and strategic partnerships. Its goal is to ignite and nurture creative, ethical, scientific minds that advance the human condition.
The event featured a live science demonstration hosted by the IMSA Kids Institute conducted by IMSA students who perform the "States of Matter: Does it Matter?" demo throughout Illinois to elementary students. The demonstration shows how solids, liquids and gases can change with temperature and through chemical reactions.
IMSA admits academically talented Illinois high school students who are interested in math, science, technology and engineering into its advanced residential college prepatory program.
IMSA has another field office in Chicago and one is set to open in 2010 in Rock Island. Contact reporter Jesusa Boney at 239-2535 or jboney@bnd.com.
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