FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 4, 2015, 4:00 p.m. CDT

Contact Jason Hogue, Peru State College Marketing and Communications, 402.872.2429

 

Peru, Nebraska- The Peru State College of Education is in their 10th year of Brain Quest. Brain Quest is a biannual program for third graders that promotes math and science.

 

Peru State education students designed and taught fun activities to promote hands-on engagement in math and science concepts. Projects included pizza making to better understand fractions and art projects to better conceptualize weather patterns.

 

Other activities included “Sense Investigators;” “Solving Problems One Scoop at a Time;” “Read, Aim, Measure;” “Math and Murals;” “What a Zoo;” “The Dye Milk;” and “Taking Flight.”

 

288 third graders from Chandler View Elementary in Omaha and Hayward Elementary in Nebraska City attended. These students were split into small groups of 20 to 25 students.

 

Dr. Gina Bittner founded “Brain Quest” in 2006, her first semester as Peru State College faculty, and was joined in recent years by assistant professor Darolyn Seay. Together, they host the event each fall and spring semester in collaboration with the elementary methods students.

 

Bittner says, “Brain Quest is a great opportunity for our teacher candidates to gain first-hand teaching experience with meeting students’  needs in math and science.  The candidates work to use the STEM Standards (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to engage students in meaningful lessons.”

 

Bittner also thanked her fellow Brain Quest and public school partners for their contributions, “It has been a pleasure to collaborate with Darolyn. She brings a positive energy to the Brain Quest experience. Furthermore, without our public school partners and passionate teacher candidates, the Brain Quest event would not be what it is today."

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Mackenzie Faris (Tecumseh, Nebraska) reads to a section of "Pizza, Pizza." Mackenzie Faris (Tecumseh, Nebraska) reads to a section of "Pizza, Pizza." Max Smith (Crete, Nebraska) helps a student measure soaps for a hurricane demonstration in "Weather Creators." Max Smith (Crete, Nebraska) helps a student measure soaps for a hurricane demonstration in "Weather Creators."

For more information, visit www.peru.edu or call 1-800-742-4412.

 

About Peru State College: Peru State’s “Campus of a Thousand Oaks,” an arboretum, is nestled in historic southeast Nebraska. The state’s first college, Peru State offers a unique mix of innovative online and traditional classroom undergraduate and graduate programs, including online graduate degrees in education and organizational management. It is a college of choice fostering excellence and student achievement through engagement in a culture that promotes inquiry, discovery and innovation.