From: Marilyn Weiser <mweiser@sendit.nodak.edu>
Subject: NCTM
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 15:31:38 -0500 (CDT)
Since this is the first time that I have posted a message to this list, I would like to join many of you to thank everyone involved with Passport to Knowledge. It has been a great year as my students and I visited Mars and Antarctica. Last week I was in Minneapolis for the National Council of Teachers of Math. The experience was much the same as many of you described having at NSTA. M.J. Savaiano, a fellow PTK advocate, and I had a wonderful time reminiscing about our adventures in Washington last summer. I was so impressed with some of the things that M.J. has done this past year that I decided to 'toot her horn!' In th Exhibit Hall of the Convention Center was a l6'x6' Marscape. Students were constructing Lego Dacta rovers and operating them from an Apple computer. This was a collaborative effort by teachers from three Minneapolis Public Schools. The school partnership received an "Imagination Grant" from the Minneapolis Star Tribune Foundation. The Mars terrain was constructed from large sheets of styrofoam. It was all VERY impressive. The students had an opportunity to continue to share their rovers and Marscape at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Also, several of M.J.'s students have been included in a group who has been meeting together for several months in preparation for a May trip to the US Space Camp in Huntsville, AL. Parents, businesses and foundations are cooperating with the teachers to give 45 students an opportunity to attend Space Camp for one week. In addition, several students have reason to believe they are making a difference in their community. They recently received word that they will be in the finals of the Bayer Corporation "Community Innovation" Project at EPCOT in May. The student team of four focused on drivers who run red lights on a busy Minneapolis intersection. Wow, I think M.J. has made a difference!! Congratulations! Just a word about the tragedy that exists in Grand Forks. I live four hours straight east in Minot. Our school is collected student and teacher supplies which will be transported by the local Red Cross. They are equipped to truck any supplies you might wish to send to their office. The address is American Red Cross Mid-Dakota Chapter,2021 4th Ave NW, Minot, ND, 58701. Thirteen of the fourteen school are under water. Teachers, at this point, are in temporary homes in a three state area. There are several 1-800 numbers available, if you have any questions. I do not have access to them at the moment, however if you would like them please e-mail me and will provide them to you. Sincerely, Marilyn Weiser