Growing scientists: Increasing science opportunties is a goal of Valley educators, supporters

Published 2:20 pm Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Jana Mabry, teacher at Twin Falls Middle School, set out in 2005 to “home-grow” some scientists in the school district.

With help and encouragement from teachers who’d been there, done that, she has, with possibly greater success than she expected.

As one of three keynote speakers at last week’s Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation luncheon, Mabry was introduced with two of her former students, both of whom shared the influence she had in guiding their careers.

Dylan Glaser, a project biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, described his daily work less than enthusiastically, at first.

“I walk up streams, usually I’m bushwhacking all the way, to quantify the habitat information,” for various species, he said. But then, he also needs to take sediment samples, he says. “So, I’ve got dirt, and water, and I’m stirring them together with, essentially a big stick, and I realized, wow, I’m getting paid to make mud pies!”

Joseph Mangano, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Oregon Water Science Center, and a 2006 graduate of Mount Si High School, intended to start his talk with the number of Schools Foundation grants he thought he directly benefitted from while a student. After hearing Mabry talk, though, he had to adjust that number upward.

“I had no idea that the groundwater thing was a foundation grant, too,” he admitted.

The groundwater “thing,” or model, was one of the first pieces of equipment that Mabry had purchased for her science classes, with the help of a foundation grant. She recalled giving the device to two of her middle school students, girls who seemed unchallenged by the regular curriculum, and telling them to use the model to examine the effects of pollution in a water table.

“If you don’t have a 13- or 14-year-old girl in your home, you probably want to get one,” Mabry told the audience of nearly 500 guests at the luncheon March 19. “They want to solve the world’s problems.”

So, apparently, does Mabry, who has applied for and been named a finalist in the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship program. The fellowship awards will be announced mid-April. If selected, Mabry would spend the next 11 months working with federal agencies to expand science opportunities in education.

Basically, it’s what she’s doing now, just on a larger scale. Mabry feels strongly that all students, but girls, especially, need more opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math. While most students have the computer skills by the time they get to middle school, she said, they don’t necessarily have the exposure to a diversity of subjects that could help them select a scientific field.

To give those students that exposure, Mabry pursued, and was awarded, Schools Foundation grants for a variety of projects. She has received $16,000 in foundation grants over the years, supplemented by $9,000 in PTSA grants, which have made possible such rare student opportunities as two marine biology research trips to Costa Rica, and one to the Salish Sea.

“All of those trips were great experiences, and wouldn’t have been possible without funding, so let’s keep it going,” said Glaser.

For more information about the Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation, visit www.svsfoundation.org.

Karen Seiser, center, receives her Educator of the Year plaque, along with honorees, from left, Toni Canady and Melanie Christian, and Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation Board President Susan Kingsbury-Comeau. Renee Gray was also honored as an Educator of the Year at the Schools Foundation lunch.

Members of the Mount Si High School Bella Voce ensemble perform during the Schools Foundation luncheon.