Program Name: Partnership with Infineum USA LP
Nominator's Name: Joseph Martino
Title: Superintendent of Schools
Address: 2 East Gibbons Street
City/State/Zip: Linden NJ 07036
Nominator's Telephone Number: 908-486-2800
Organization: Linden Public Schools
Address: 2 East Gibbons Street
City/State/Zip: Linden NJ 07036
List of Community Partners: Infineum USA LP
The nominated program focuses on the following grade level or area: Elementary - High School
District:  Linden
County: Union
Address: 2 East Gibbons Street
City/State/Zip: Linden NJ 07036
District Superintendent: Joseph Martino
District Telephone Number: 908-486-2800
Date of Program Initiation: September 1995

Background

In 1995, the Linden Public Schools entered a formal school-business partnership with Infineum USA LP, an international company with a Linden facility with several hundred employees. This partnership is in its eighth year and has involved approximately 200 teachers and administrators from our district.

Area 1: Goals:

The partnership's goal is to provide support to elementary and secondary schools for the purpose of increasing student interest in science, enhancing teaching capabilities, and displaying the important relationship between science education and everyday life. The partnership's professional development programs focus on inquiry-centered learning and are based on the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards and National Science Education Standards. Infineum, by providing expert consultants, has also enabled Linden to construct an environmental science curriculum that spirals through grades kindergarten through twelve. Infineum employees spend many hours a year sharing information with students and teachers on educational topics including career choices, and serve as mentors for the Infineum supported Minorities in Engineering high school program.

Area 2: Activities:

The main component of the partnership's professional development program consists of environmental science workshops that provide teachers with training in the use of ecologically-diverse sites to enhance student experiential learning and reinforce classroom work. Correlations between the curriculum and student visits to observe the features of Schoolyard Learning Labs, Kindergarten and Grade 3 students (400), Local Parks, Grade 5 and 7 students (450), The Marine Science Consortium in Sandy Hook, Grade 6 students (470), Sterling Hill Mining Museum, Grade 8 students (470) and the Meadowlands Environment Center, Grades 8 and 10 students (450) serve as the basis of improving teaching capability. Infineum also sponsors teachers at Teachers, Industry and the Environment (TIE), which are 2 day workshops organized by the Chemistry Council of New Jersey. Secondary teachers are involved each summer in Project STIR (Science Teachers Internship Research) at Infineum's research facility.

Area 3: Outside Resources:

In addition to the professional development programs, Linden's teachers and administrators use many outside resources to support their work. They have access to Infineum's Science Education Speakers Bureau which provides employees to participate in Science Fairs, Career Days and other school activities to share information on science and engineering. Infineum's Annual Career Days pair high school students with engineers for a panel discussion and team-building hands-on experiences. In addition, Products from the World of Chemistry Presentations are made to students, and Linden teachers and administrators team up with Infineum employees to present hands-on activities to children and parents attending the American Chemical Society's annual Chem Expo at Liberty Science Center.

Infineum's support encouraged other industries such as Philips Petroleum and El Paso Energy to provide resources to fund a Millennium Media Center in each of two middle schools. The new workstations and high-speed networked Internet access enable students to further enhance their interest in Science. In addition, a Chemistry Classroom of the 21st Century has been established, and an eleventh grade Environmental Science Class has been equipped with handheld computers and probe technology to gather data in the field for classroom analysis.

Area 4: Evaluation:

The impact of the partnership on the Linden Public Schools has been broad as evidenced by the 200 teachers in Grades K through twelve who have increased their teaching capabilities through professional development. Students are more engaged in the classroom because of the motivating experiential learning and are excited by engineer visits. Student achievement in science on the GEPA has increased, and results of a pre-and post administration of the NSF-funded Horizon Research Institute (HRI) assessment in the sixth grade have been positive. There has been an increase in parent involvement at Family Science Nights held in the elementary schools as well as at the Science Fairs in elementary and middle schools.

The following are offered as further evidence of the partnership's not only local but global impact:

• The Linden Public Schools were invited to disseminate its partnership science program at an Action Lab at the NJ School Board Association Convention in October, 2002.
• The NJ Audubon Society received a grant from Merck, Inc. and requested to partner with Linden to develop an environmental issues unit for 8^th grade.
• The Alliance for New Jersey Environmental Education (ANJEE) featured Linden's environmental science professional development program in its Spring, 2002 Newsletter.
• A neighboring district (Rahway) has requested program development information.
• The Union County Board of Freeholders has requested program information for possible county use.

Area 5: Stability:

From the beginning, a priority of the partnership has been to increase the district's capacity to institutionalize the program's elements. Administrative, teacher and community support has increased and now includes the Mayor of Linden and several city departments such as Recreation and Parks and the Environmental Commission. As a result of this partnership, plans to build a school-community environmental awareness nature trail along the Rahway River/Arthur Kill estuary wetlands are being developed.

The Public Affairs Manager for Infineum USA LP, for ten years Elizabeth Garcia, and the Director of Science for the Linden Public Schools have been collaborating since 1995 to continually enhance this partnership.

Area 6: Endorsements:

"Infineum and the Linden schools share a mutual goal of preparing our students to take on their roles as stewards of the environment. Through Infineum's support of professional development, our teachers have become proficient in teaching environmental science using the outdoors as a laboratory for learning."

Joseph E. Martino, Superintendent of Schools

"Our partnership with Infineum has had an impact on not only teachers who have benefited from training but most importantly on our students. Having opportunities to use state-of-the-art equipment supplied by Infineum is a motivating factor in encouraging students to think about science careers. Being able to meet and speak with practicing scientists and engineers from Infineum is a catalyst towards decision."

Mark Pekosz, High School Teacher

"Infineum colleague volunteers are frequently out in local schools forging partnerships to enhance teaching capabilities and increase student interest in Science. They also serve as role models to our high school students contemplating careers in science and engineering."

John T. Gregorio, Mayor of Linden