Signals of Spring wins Jersey City Contract

'Signals of Spring,' a science and technology educational program has won a two year contract with the Jersey City Board of Education. Middle and high school students utilize Signals of Spring Internet and satellite technology to track the migrations of birds, whales, and sea turtles. The first wave of teachers in Jersey City have been trained, with plans for more training this summer.

Jersey City, NJ---February 14, 2002. The first wave of Jersey City teachers has completed training in Signals of Spring science and technology program. As part of the whole-school reform efforts in Jersey City, six schools have elected to implement Signals of Spring as a part of the middle school science, math and technology whole school reform curricula.

Signals of Spring, a project of the U.S. Satellite Laboratory, allows students of all ages to use wildlife to observe connections between science, math, and geography. Using cutting-edge Internet technology, students utilize variables such as vegetation, landforms, sea surface temperature and weather to explain the migrations of animals as bald eagles, red-tailed hawk, loggerhead sea turtles, and sandhill cranes.

Last week, teams of teachers from the schools participated in an intensive training program. Theresa Jones, a technology coordinator in the Jersey City Board of Education, completed the training and is excited about seeing Signals come to life in the schools. Jones describes the Signals program as very real," a program with information that students can use down the road." She believes that Jersey City students will be motivated by Signals of Spring as they learn about wildlife and interact with real scientists. Jones also comments that while Signals is billed primarily as a science program, it addresses all content standards" as it incorporates geography, meteorology, biology, technology and English-Language Arts; she states that the connections with the subject areas are inherent" in the Signals curriculum.

The contract between the Jersey City Schools and Signals of Spring is a two-year contract, with the next phase of teacher training planned for Summer 2002. Visit Signals of Spring at www.signalsofspring.net.