Let the internship begin...

The school, that I was fortunate enough to receive permission to internship at is Houston Elementary, one of 26 elementary schools within the Gilbert Public School (GPS) system. GPS has a total district enrollment of over 39,000 students (Gilbert Public Schools). The Town of Gilbert is a suburb of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, the 14th largest metro area in the United States. Gilbert itself has a population of 208,453 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). With an average family income of $98,213 over 92% of the citizens of Gilbert over the age of 25 have a high school diploma or a GED, 35.5% have a Bachelor’s degree and 10.46% have a Master’s degree (“Gilbert, Arizona”). Houston Elementary is located at 500 E. Houston Ave in Gilbert, Arizona. It currently serves 556 students in grades K-6. Houston offers full day kindergarten, Amanacer Preschool and kindergarten prep. At present there are 44 full time teachers and 40 classrooms with a student teacher ratio of 13.05:1. This exceptional ratio is 16.4% lower than average for all public Arizona schools. The faculty at Houston Elementary has an average of nine years of experience and receive an average salary of $43,102. In 2011 Houston students were performing better than 75.4% of other public schools and 30.8% qualified for free/reduced lunch(Gilbert Public Schools). The class I am interning in is that of Amy Farmer-Behrens. Mrs. Behrens has been teaching special education at Houston Elementary since receiving her Bachelors in Secondary Education/Social Studies from Northern Arizona University in 2006. Because of her position she began taking graduate courses in special education and completed her Masters in December of 2010. Mrs. Behrens has one full time teacher assistant, Norma, who has worked with her in the classroom since 2007. This year their classroom consists of both fourth and sixth graders. She has a total of 19 students with between 4 and 9 in each class period. There are two Hispanic, two Native American, one ‘other’ and 14 Caucasian students. Gender distribution is 3.2:1.

Cells are the smallest unit of life, all living things are made of cells, and cells themselves are alive. Multicellular organisms can be made up of hundreds of trillions of cells, these cells perform different functions. For example, in humans we have thousands of variations on the main categories of cells. These main categories include types like; epithithium, nervous, mesenchymal, lymphocyte, melanocyte, neuroendocrine. Less complex organisms are made up of fewer cells or may be unicellular which means they consist of only one cell! I think this video is a beautiful introduction to the world of cells. I hope that it clears up some misconceptions that people have about cell, though I think the important lesson is that cells are both component parts of larger living organisms and they are individual units of life. Cells are important, like the life forms they combine to create, they undergo specific processes, have genetic material and attempt to pass that genetic material to future generations through the process of reproduction. There is no more grand a mystery than the cells of our own body. It is hard to imagine the vastness let along the endless wonder and inquiry that these tiny organisms bring out. In the area of STEM there is nothing more relevant than the study of the cell. The cell can serve as a foundational focus for all areas of STEM– science, technology, engineering and math - and the culmination of this study and the compilation of knowledge unmistakably has the potential to truly affect our 21st century world. I hope that you find this video as captivating as I do. I found it to be entertaining, educational and most importantly it stimulated my curiosity and just made me want to know more!

November 9, 2012

Hello! My name is McKenna. I am currently enjoying my second year at Phoenix College. As a STEM Scholar I am enjoying many of the excellent opportunities that PC has to offer.  In May 2013 I will graduate with my A.S.  degree  and am hoping to transfer to Arizona State University. While at ASU I plan on triple majoring in global health, mathematics and education.