Record turnout for WashU's Brain Bee competition

A swarm of competitors from across the St. Louis region tested their brain power at Washington University’s 9th annual St. Louis Area Brain Bee, held Feb. 16 on the Danforth Campus. This year’s neuroscience competition consisted of 58 students – making it the largest turnout ever. Twenty-nine high schools were represented in the competition. The […]

ISP celebrates Darwin Day, names new Kirk Teacher Fellow

There was cake, balloons and a rousing singalong of Happy Birthday. The man himself – Charles Darwin – stood off in a corner ready to pose for selfies. A birthday hat sitting atop his head. OK, it wasn’t the real Darwin, but a life-size cutout. However, the celebratory feel was real as 60 educators and […]

Like a spelling bee, but for neuroscience: WashU Brain Bee set for Feb. 16

Erik Herzog was starting to get concerned. He was deep into the oral portion of the 2018 St. Louis Area Brain Bee and the unthinkable was on the horizon: He was running out of questions. “The contestants had never performed so well in the past,” said Herzog, professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at […]

ISP addresses region's shortage of computer science teachers

You don’t need to be a great coder to teach computer science. You only need to be a great teacher. That is the experience of Jaime Gilligan of Washington University in St. Louis’ Institute for School Partnership (ISP). Through the Code.org professional learning program, Gilligan and other ISP instructional specialists are teaching local middle and […]

S'mores + science = fun for visiting Chinese students

It’s the moment of reckoning exclaims an excited Kathleen Dwyer as she hands two Chinese youths the makings for s’mores. Turning the treat over in their fingers, the boys eye the dessert with some suspicion. “Ready?” asks Dwyer, a chemistry teacher at Maplewood–Richmond Heights High School. “Try it. It’s beautiful,” she says. Slowly the boys bring […]

ISP's Victoria May honored for work with students

Victoria L. May, assistant dean in Arts & Sciences and executive director of the Institute for School Partnership, has been honored for her work with students. During the University College Recognition Ceremony on May 16, May received University College’s 2018 Dean’s Faculty Award. The honor is presented each year to an outstanding University College faculty member. […]

ISP helping pilot new math, technology curriculum in St. Louis schools

It’s mid-afternoon at Walbridge Elementary School and the hallways are buzzing. Literally. Electronic buzzer sounds spill out of classrooms as students work on circuitry projects. Jaime Gilligan, with Washington University’s Institute for School Partnership (ISP), is touring the school with principal Mildred Moore. Walbridge is one of several schools in the St. Louis Public School […]

Students test their engineering might at annual Boeing design challenge

“This is stressful,” Emilia Talarski says in between bites of pizza. She’s worried her balsa wood glider will break. Although, it already has a crack. It happened when she fell while holding it. But she describes it as a happy accident. “It actually made the glider fly better,” says the third grader from MOSAIC Elementary […]

Mobile science lab sparks curiosity in Hawthorn students

I see red! I see green! I see purple! Sporting virtual reality headsets, a group of seventh-graders from Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls, are sharing the different colors they see as they take a virtual tour of brain cells. “I haven’t experienced anything like this before,” Cailyn McGraw says. “Seeing the cells and the cells […]

Creating a new generation of educators

Good teachers make for engaged students and stable schools. That’s why Washington University in St. Louis is partnering with St. Louis Teacher Residency to train and support a new generation of educators. “As an institution of higher education and one of the region’s largest employers, Washington University knows that strong K-12 schools are vital to […]