Veteran teacher attends STEM institute

You could say that Columbia Falls Junior High teacher Tom Berquist jumped into a pool of science this summer. Berquist recharged his science batteries by attending the Siemens Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Institute in Washington, D.C.

Berquist is in his 26th year of teaching this fall — 22 at Columbia Falls. The institute selected 50 educators from thousands of applicants across the U.S.

The idea of the program is to expose science teachers from across the U.S. to government and industry professionals working in the science field. Berquist said he met with engineers and leaders from NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency and private industry.

The institute is housed at world headquarters of Discovery Communications, the parent company of Discovery Magazine and the Discovery Channel.

“The goal was to immerse us in as much STEM stuff as we could,” Berquist said last week. “It was like trying to drink from a fire hose.”

The big gulp was worth it, Berquist noted. He’s made connections across the globe with educators and professionals working in the science field. The goal is to bring some of that enthusiasm for science back to his classroom in Columbia Falls. The country needs scientists, he said.

“In the U.S., just 16 percent of graduates go into STEM disciplines,” he said. “In China, it’s 50 percent.”

Eighth-grade science is a blend of several disciplines, from ecology and biology to physical science and chemistry. The most popular units deal with the moon and physics experiments, where students make their own models, he said.

But the student body has changed over the years. With a barrage of new technology, like smart phones and tablets, students seem less in tune to the outdoors, Berquist noted. He said students used to love field trips to Glacier National Park to gather seeds to grow back in the school’s greenhouse. Now it’s tough to find a handful who are interested, he said.

Having met educators from across the U.S., Berquist said he feels Columbia Falls teachers are just as good as any in the country.

“We flat hold our own,” he said. “I was impressed with the dedication of the educators I met. I became a more optimistic person.”