Washington Township High School Teacher Selected to Take Part in National Institute of Health Summer Program

For Immediate Release
April 15, 2024

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – Washington Township High School science teacher Mary Howard recently learned that she has been selected to participate in a National Institute of Health Science Education Partnership Award (NIH SEPA) grant project titled, Modeling Infection & Immunity: From Molecules to Cells.  

Howard has been participating in NIH SEPA for several years through a different grant (now expired), which encouraged and implemented the use of molecular models in the classroom with the goal of helping students better understand difficult molecular concepts found in the study of the life sciences. 

“I have seen first-hand the benefits of adding this type of instruction to the science curriculum,” Howard said. “This current grant will help me continue my goal of making complex biological concepts easy with the use of modeling in the application of the study of infectious disease and immunity. The goal of this grant is to increase the teachers’ content knowledge regarding the molecular mechanisms of infectious diseases and collaboratively create student-centered active learning pedagogy that values questions over answers. Twenty teachers from across the country were selected for this grant. I am very excited.”

The grant is sponsored and funded through NIH SEPA grant, and all of Howard’s expenses (travel, lodging, classes) will be paid. She will travel to Milwaukee, Wisc., this summer for classes and work sessions. In addition, she will receive more than $800 dollars in teaching supplies for the students in her classroom.  

“These resources will afford me the opportunity to add additional molecular models and hands-on instructional activities highlighting biological stories through current events and clinical applications not only to my Anatomy and Physiology classes, but also to the Honors Biology and AP Biology curriculum,” she said.

- WTPS -