Ninth Annual IPRB Summer Program for Science & Math Teachers
Logan County educator Sally Aukamp attends

 

[July 19, 2018]  On June 25, eighty-five grade school through high school science and math teachers from 35 Illinois counties met at the Double Tree Hotel for four days of activities to learn about the science, the business, and the people of the Illinois oil and natural gas industry.

From Logan County, Lincoln Community High School Science teacher Sally Aukamp participated in the event.

The teachers were each given a curriculum as well as lab kits worth hundreds of dollars to take back to their classrooms at the end of the conference. The registrants earned either 7.5 Professional Development Hours plus 2 grad credits from Illinois State University, or 37.5 Professional Development Hours. The teachers participated in each lab that is included in the kit as they go through each chapter of the curriculum. Some of the comments the teachers made about the IPRB Summer Program are as follows:

"So informative & practical!"

"It was wonderful not only having activities for the classroom but being given the material to achieve those activities."

"Loved the variety of formats…activities (hands on), lectures from speaker who were highly knowledgeable, field trip day was awesome, and that there was no wasted time."

"This has been one of the best conferences that I have been to in my 25 years of teaching."

"I learned so much about oil production – how many jobs, lives, products are impacted that I was totally ignorant of before."

"Everyone was so friendly and willing to share & answer questions."

"Loved that it was so well organized and it was free."

The free program is sponsored by the Illinois Petroleum Resources Board (IPRB). The purpose of this body is to provide public awareness and education programs about the Illinois oil and natural gas industry. The IPRB also cleans up abandoned tank battery sites throughout the state. Funding for the IPRB comes from voluntary contributions of Illinois oil and natural gas producers and royalty owners.

[Connie Eubanks
Education Coordinator/Office Manager
Illinois Petroleum Resources Board]