The motto “Educate for Service” is prevalent across the entire Elizabethtown College community. Many programs on campus institute the College’s revered motto, including Etown’s program Science in Motion (SIM). Over the past few weeks, Etown has received donations from six different banks to fund this program. SIM helps local students, grades kindergarten to twelfth grade, by aiding their school’s science department. The program reaches Berks, Lancaster, Lebanon and Schuylkill Counties. The program enables the schools to use high-tech equipment that was not previously available to them. It also offers educational services from College faculty. The SIM program revolves around the schools’ individual needs and provides equipment that is requested.
One of the grants received, courtesy of Fulton bank, totaled $5,000. Fulton Bank donated to the College because they wanted to support the community where their customers live, work and thrive. Additionally, the Bank benefits from their donation to the SIM program through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program (EITC).
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development website, the EITC program allows tax credits “tax credits equal to 75 percent of its contribution up to a maximum of $400,000 per taxable year; can be increased to 90 percent of the contribution, if business agrees to provide same amount for two consecutive tax years; for contributions to pre-kindergarten scholarship organizations, a business may receive a tax credit equal to 100 percent of the first $10,000 contributed and up to 90 percent of the remaining amount contributed up to a maximum credit of $200,000 annually.”
The money donated will buy supplies and new equipment to provide hands-on resources for the teachers and students. Disposables and consumables, such as chemicals, micro pipet tips and gloves, are some of the new equipment to be included. All of the equipment is free to the schools.
Another donor of the SIM program was Phillip Office Solutions, who donated $10,000 to the College.
Throughout the school year, SIM actively goes out to schools, to improve their science programs. “Most of the schools request help with their biotechnology courses, but SIM does help schools with their chemistry and physics departments upon request,” said Wendy Martin, the site director of the program. The program surveys the teachers located throughout the four counties, and asks what they need. Then, Martin ventures in the SIM Honda Element, “no … element pun intended” to the schools.
All schools within the four counties are invited every year to become part of the SIM program. “SIM is fully tailored to the school, and some teachers are very comfortable with the equipment, some are used to using the equipment, and some are totally new to using the new high-tech equipment,” Martin said. Martin travels to the schools and drops off the equipment, trains the teachers on how to properly use the equipment and co-teaches a lesson, if that’s what the teacher would prefer.
During the summer, teachers in the schools are invited to work in training programs at Etown. These training programs include lesson and lab development meetings, providing teachers with classes on how to use the newly purchased equipment and other programs requested by teachers.
Martin, the director of the program, would like to get more people involved in SIM program. This includes other professors and hopefully students in the near future.
“I would love to get students involved; the only problem is scheduling. Everyone has classes at a specific time, and it would be very hard to work around that,” Martin said.
For anyone interested in learning more about Science in Motion program, please contact Wendy Martin at MARTINW@etown.edu or (717) 361-1305.
