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Year 1999-2000
Worthington Hooker School
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Grade 3: Pam Nuzzo
Ms. Nuzzo was already known around school as “The Worm Lady” because of her interest in vermiculture (worm composting), so it was not a stretch to her unit, “Links to Life: Forest Food Chains of East Rock Park,” which dealt with producers and consumers.
 “I wanted it all set up, the basics, that they knew about the consumers and producers, and it’s a riot because they use the terms now, "Okay, this is a predator, and that’s a consumer… . It’s really good to hear them do it because you didn’t used to. It used to be, when we used the book, okay, well, this is the word. And you give them a test at the end, match the word, and they can’t. It’s really different now; they’re using it all the time and talking about it.”
The BioAction Lab proved to be an important factor in some unusual circumstances with Ms. Nuzzo’s students.
“I have one boy from Japan. He just came and he’s just learning English. And he blossomed! He’s talking about bacteria, and he just loved it. It really gave him something to work with where he was a part of this where sometimes he would just sit there and we’d have to work at drawing him in, with this he just loved it… . I didn’t have any parent say anything bad … they kept thanking me. I have a group of parents, it’s hard because they all work. This one mother, it’s really good that she came in. Her son has been struggling with writing. But it wasn’t till she came in for [the BioAction Lab] and told me, ‘I sat with him, and he was telling all about it… but when he went to write it down he couldn’t do it.’ And that’s what we see, but she had to see it.”
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Grade 4: Kelly Auringer
Ms. Auringer looked at one of the more interesting local habitats in her unit, “Clams on the Half Shell: A Look at Life in Long Island Sound.”
“With this the museum really came alive. I heard kids say, ‘Oh, I’ve seen that there.’ ‘Oh, I know where that bird is in that case.’ And, ‘Oh, can you touch things at the museum?’ A lot of them didn’t know the hands-on rule. And we talked about that, and I saw the light some on for them. Like, ‘Wow! The Peabody Museum doesn’t have walls!’ That’s where it became hands-on… . One thing I want to say, …the BioAction Lab, is … a great equalizer. In this school, we have children at all levels of ability … and it’s hard in a regular classroom to keep them all engaged and all challenged, but this did. My special ed students felt that they were at a level they were comfortable with and the kids that were really bright found themselves where they could expand themselves. My special ed kids, the parents kept telling me how much they loved it. Some were supposed to go to ESL, but the parents said, ‘Oh, no, we don’t want them out of BioAction Lab.’”
Ms. Auringer was one of many Fellows whose own experience with the program was compelling.
“I have virtually no science background. I was a language arts and social studies teacher for thirteen years. This is only my second year teaching science. My training through the summer Institute and the research I’ve done on my unit have been invaluable to me. I have grown so much as a teacher and individual because of my involvement with the Peabody Fellows Program. This is my best professional development experience ever!”
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