IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 2, 2008
CONTACT: Gordon Ovenshine:

Office: 724.738.4854

Cell: 724.991.8302

gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu

New Classroom Activity Center benefits SRU education majors

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. ­– Slippery Rock University education majors have a helpful new resource at their disposal – a Classroom Activity Center in Bailey Library. The facility includes more than 1,000 hands-on learning kits covering an array of topics, from “The Wonder of Birds,” “Civil War,”  “Model Rocketry” to “Geometric Figures and Solids.”

             Education majors will use the materials to generate ideas for lesson plans as they prepare for student-teaching assignments and employment as elementary, special education and secondary-school teachers. The center, on the second floor, opened this summer.

            “It’s so helpful because students will be able to handle the items and actually visualize how to use them in the classroom,” said Renee Tkacik, the SRU librarian who organized the collection. “The possibilities are endless. If you’re teaching presidents, you can check our ‘Presidential Profiles Kit.’ You can give an in-depth art lesson using one of our Metropolitan Seminars in Arts kits. The point is students have new teaching tools for classroom and field experiences.”

            The activity kits apply to elementary, special education and secondary education curriculum and include photographs, drawings, biographies, maps and historical timelines. Other examples include “George Orwell,” “Black History Month,” “The Fight for Suffrage” and the “Oregon Trail.” 

            There are also board games, globes, puppets and other materials that address overcoming anger and the human body.

             The materials were shelved in various locations in Bailey, but students never had access to them before Now they can check them out for up to three weeks.

            “When students have additional materials from which to draw, aides can be used to make the material come alive, leading to better prepared teachers, better informed teachers, and student learning improves,” said Jay Hertzog, SRU dean of the College of Education.

            The center hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday; and 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday. Call 724.738.6048 for more information.

Slippery Rock University is Pennsylvania’s premier public residential university. Slippery Rock University provides students with a comprehensive learning experience that intentionally combines academic instruction with enhanced educational and learning opportunities that make a positive difference in their lives.