Biotechnology Institute News room
Wyeth Scientists Partnering with Teachers in Diverse Communities
Arlington, VA (December 11, 2006) – The Biotechnology Institute and Wyeth have formed an innovative professional development program for high school teachers that allows leading Wyeth scientists to share their biotechnology expertise with science educators in nearby communities. The Wyeth Scholars Program calls for the scientists to mentor new teachers from schools near Wyeth locations in Princeton, New Jersey, and Collegeville, Pennsylvania. A particular focus of the project is to serve schools with diverse student bodies.
“Both Wyeth and the Biotechnology Institute share a common vision of bringing state-of-the-art biotechnology education to the communities we serve, particularly those that have been historically underrepresented,” says Michael E. Kamarck, senior vice-president, Wyeth Biotech “People with a variety of backgrounds must be active participants in biotechnology so the industry can benefit from working with the full range of the brightest and most talented people. This education is crucial to scientific innovation and to serving a global marketplace.”
The four-year program calls for five three-person teams each year that are comprised of a Wyeth scientist, a “Wyeth Scholar” who is a high school science teacher with less than three years of experience, and an experienced Teacher-Leader from the Institute’s National Biotechnology Teacher-Leader Program.
Within each team, the Teacher-Leader will provide the Wyeth Scholar guidance with curriculum implementation and advice on classroom management skills. The Wyeth scientists will share their real-life applications of biotechnology with both teachers and will help to develop classroom biotechnology-related activities that enable the Wyeth Scholar to impart a basic understanding of biotechnology and insight into potential career paths for students. The Wyeth Scholars and Wyeth scientists will also jointly present activities in the classroom.
The teams will work together for a period of one year, culminating with the Wyeth Scholars and Teacher-Leaders participating in the Institute’s Teacher-Leader Program, which will be held May 3-6 2007 in Boston. The Teacher-Leader Program is a professional development program that provides teachers with the skills, strategies and knowledge to spread awareness of biotechnology to their students and peers.
Wyeth has made a commitment to support to support the program for up to four years, with an inaugural grant of $125,000 for the first year. The Wyeth Scholars Program is the latest indication of the company’s support of the Biotechnology Institute. A challenge grant of $1 million to the Biotechnology Institute in 2001 was the most noteworthy illustration of support by the global leader in pharmaceuticals, consumer health care products, and animal health care products.
“Wyeth helped to launch the Institute and we are very pleased it has chosen to continue its support by backing this new initiative,” says Paul A. Hanle, president of the Biotechnology Institute. “We are hopeful that the Wyeth Scholars Program will prove to be a pioneering program that others around the nation will emulate.”
About the Biotechnology Institute
The Biotechnology Institute is as an independent, national nonprofit organization dedicated to education about the present and future impact of biotechnology. Its mission is to engage, excite and educate the public, particularly students and teachers, about biotechnology and its immense potential for solving human health, food and environmental problems. For more information, visit www.biotechinstitute.org. ###
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Jeff Ghannam
Communications Director
703-248-8681
jghannam@biotechinstitute.org
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