2005 saw CRDG’s Carol Brennan completing a four-year project in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and beginning work with the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands (CNMI).
The work in RMI began in 2001 with the implementation using a unique two-year professional development model that has elementary teachers train in the DASH program for the first year (upper or lower elementary) in order to build understanding of inquiry in science education and then continue their training for their particular grade level the second year. Carol, along with DASH Instructors Brooke Davis, Maria DaSilva, Craig Doyle, and Jim Hope, worked with 400 teachers in grades one through six while beginning to create a cadre of local trainers who will be able to provide continued training and support in RMI. A second part of the project was the adaptation and revision of the DASH materials along with the addition of activities to create a program relevant to Pacific natural and cultural environments and to address RMI science standards.
Beginning in Saipan in 2005, Carol and Brooke began the implementation of DASH in CNMI. The first summer’s sessions resulted in seventy teachers and seven new CNMI instructors trained in DASH grades K–3. Plans are to continue with expansion into the upper elementary grades.
Comment from teacher on Saipan about the DASH Pacific workshop “This is one of the best workshops I have ever attended. I can’t wait to apply the activities in my classroom.”