From the President..

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful spring weather we’ve been experiencing lately.

Last month Charlotte Bihm, Jean May-Brett, and Ann Wilson were members of a state team that attended a meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina on The Frameworks for K-12 Science Education Discussed at the meeting was the vision for science learning. Participants attended presentations and heard updates on the Next Generation Science Standards and how to help teachers, districts and the state make the transition to these new standards.

The first draft of the Next Generation of Science Standards will be released at the end of the month. And while things will be hectic with the end of the school year we hope all LSTA members will take the time to review the draft and submit comments. A dimension of the Next Generation of Science Standards is the Science and Engineering Practices.

We are working with the colleges of engineering to arrange a strand of engineering sessions to be presented during the joint conference for math and science teachers. The sessions will convey the importance of engineering and the career skills our students will need for future endeavors, content will be provided by professors of engineering familiar with K-12 educators.

Start making plans for the 2012 Math-Science Joint Conference in Shreveport, La. Please note the conference dates have changed. The conference will now be held from Monday, November 12^th through Wednesday November 14^th. The Monday – Wednesday format allows us to secure hotel lodging at a reduced cost and permits high school teachers with responsibilities for weekend sports events a chance to attend.

Jan Graff has once again agreed to serve as the Science Co-Chair for the joint conference. Start planning now to present with a colleague the proposal link will be ready soon. All submissions – extended/field trips and regular concurrent sessions-will need to be submitted online. Remember to apply for the LSTA Awards and travel grants. Information will be appearing soon on the LSTA website. These LSTA funded programs come with monetary awards members can use to help support conference participation.

We are really excited to announce that Page Keeley will be returning to Louisiana for the joint conference. Page has agreed to present an extended session and a few concurrent sessions for attendees of the conference. I would like to send a special thanks to Page for agreeing to return to our state to work with both our math and science teachers during this year’s conference.

Over the last week, as LSTA representatives, Shavonne Garner-Price and Jean May-Brett attended the NSTA conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.

I would like to thank all of our members who visited our booth at the Environmental Education Symposium.

Tera LaPrarie