Through a five-year, $1.3 million Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) from the National Institutes of Health, Maurice Godfrey, Ph.D., will introduce American Indian youths on reservations in Nebraska and South Dakota to the health sciences.
“The long term goals of this project are to promote student interest in the health sciences, foster a more science literate public and ultimately increase the number of Native Americans entering health careers,” said Dr. Godfrey, principal investigator of the grant and associate professor of pediatrics at UNMC.
SEPA grants, which are designed to improve life science literacy, bring together biomedical and behavioral researchers, educators, community groups, and other interested organizations in partnerships to create and disseminate programs that give K-12 students and their teachers a better understanding of life sciences.
It will take a year to get the program established, Dr. Godfrey said.
He and co-investigator Roxanna Jokela, director of the Rural Health Education Network at UNMC, will first focus on establishing partnerships with tribal leaders, administrators and teachers from K-8 schools on and off the reservation that serve American Indians in Nebraska. After that is done they will begin working with reservation schools in southern South Dakota.
“It’s important to note that this grant is a partnership between UNMC, schools, tribal colleges and the Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairman’s Health Board,” Dr. Godfrey said.
Teachers will have input in the development of health science education modules to insure that they are age-appropriate and adequate for classroom use, he said.
They will learn how to best implement those modules during a summer workshop in 2006. To further engage the students the curriculum will adapt materials to provide cultural role models with input from tribal leaders.
“Reaching beyond the classroom to parents and communities is critical to the success of this project,” Dr. Godfrey said.