Math and science teachers take a field trip

By Josh Humphries
The Daily Reflector

Monday, December 08, 2008

Eastern North Carolina teachers got some real-world experience Friday by touring two Pitt County industries that use math and science every day.

Nearly 30 teachers from counties all over eastern North Carolina including Pitt, Lenoir, Wayne and Halifax toured the CMI Plastics and The Roberts Company as part of the program to increase awareness of real-life business practices that incorporate math and technology.

Students often ask when they will use what they are learning in high school math, and teachers can give a concrete answer after visiting the companies here that use it every day, said Robert Testerman, a math teacher at South Lenoir High School.

“I am seeing how mathematical applications are used in the real world, the same things that I try to teach in my classroom,” he said. “As a teacher, it is nice to have evidence of how businesses are using the same math skills that I teach.”

The program — TechMath: Real world math, technology and business connections — is a yearlong program administered by East Carolina University that helps show educators how to incorporate elements of the business world into their classrooms.

The program not only benefits the teachers but also their students. Local companies are in need of skilled workers with strong math skills from this area.

The Roberts Company, for instance, wants eastern North Carolina to produce more skilled engineers, said Jon Yuhas, business manager at the company.

“The single biggest limiting factor to our ability to grow is people,” Yuhas said. “I can buy all the steel I need, but I can’t buy the people. I can’t find the people.”

Yuhas said today’s market requires engineers who can work in a fast-paced environment.

“You’ve got to do it faster and better and more often than the competition,” he said.

The teachers heard about how The Roberts Company uses math to fabricate custom industrial products for clients all over the world and toured the facility to see the work in action.

The program is in its third year, and nearly 40 teachers have gone through it already, said Beth Eckstein, project manager.

“We work with math and science teachers and expose them to businesses in the area which use mathematics and technology,” Eckstein said.

“Ultimately we want the teachers to convey to the students that what they are learning in mathematics has tremendous applicability for their futures — whether they choose to go to college, the community college, or go straight into the work force.”

The program is funded through a $1.2 million grant awarded to ECU in the fall of 2006 from the National Science Foundation to enhance the interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in eastern North Carolina.

Each teacher is to develop an instructional module for their classrooms based on what they learn from touring local companies and participating in workshops at ECU on science and math.

Contact Josh Humphries at jhumphries@coxnc.com or (252) 329-9565.