Teachers and students who excel in science and mathematics will soon be able to look forward to something a little more substantial than just the satisfaction of a job well done.
The Tandy Corporation, the Texas-based computer company, last week announced a new program to give cash and scholarships to top-flight high-school teachers and students.
The proposed new initiative, managed in conjunction with Texas Christian University, will award cash stipends of $2,500 each to 100 teachers.
The program also will award 100 students of math and science cash scholarships of $1,000.
Texas Christian plans to base the awards on teachers’ work in the 1988-89 school year and on students’ achievements this year as high-school juniors.
High-school students facing tough decisions about the use of drugs and alcohol can undertake a risk-free exploration of the consequences of different choices, using a new interactive videodisc program developed for the National Federation of State High School Associations.
The video allows students to simulate attendance at a party where drugs and alcohol are available.
It presents viewers with a series of alternatives confronting nine characters. Viewers determine the outcome of the party by deciding if any of the students will use drugs or alcohol.
The complete package isn’t cheap--nearly $12,000 for the program, touch-screen monitor, two videodisc players, microcomputer, and other hardware. But schools may be able to get some help from a local chapter of the American Legion, which has encouraged its members to help schools obtain the packages.
For more information, contact the nfshsa, 11724 Plaza Circle, Box 20626, Kansas City, Mo. 64195; (800) 366-6667.
Searching for the right bit of music on a record or tape used to drive Edward G. Kerman crazy. The Howard County, Md., band teacher frequently found himself wasting class time looking for a musical phrase he wanted his students to practice.
After two years of tinkering and $10,000 of his own money, though, Mr. Kerman may have found an imaginative solution to his problem.
He has been awarded a patent for a device that links a computerized keyboard to a programmable compact-disc player, enabling students to search a disc for the measure of music they wish to rehearse.
The “interactive compact disc” system incorporates a “touchpad” covered with a plastic overlay identifying selected segments of music.
The system enables a student to “touch [the appropriate key] and hear that measure,” Mr. Kerman explains.--pw
