Kansas City, Mo. (Kansas City Science Initiative)
In October 2004, Bayer HealthCare LLC and Bayer CropScience LP partnered with the Kansas City Missouri School District (KCMSD) to create the Kansas City Science Initiative (KCSI).
KCSI’s mission is to create confident, life-long learners who have the critical thinking and problem solving skills, particularly in science, to be contributing citizens and leaders within their communities. The partners envision all KCMSD kindergarten through fifth-grade students having the opportunity to participate in a rigorous, grade-appropriate, multi-sensory curriculum that allows for and fosters the development of science literacy through inquiry-based instruction. The goal also is to have all teachers properly trained in this type of instruction.
Currently, KCSI is being piloted at five elementary schools in the district. To help KCSI continue to grow and meet its ultimate goal of expanding into all 46 elementary schools, Bayer has provided financial, human and educational resources, including:
- $250,000 in grants to KCMSD for teacher training, the KCMSD team’s attendance at the National Science Resources Center’s weeklong LASER (Leadership and Assistance in Science Education Reform) Conference, and the purchase of curriculum kits and materials
- Employee volunteers who assist teachers and students as they shift away from textbook-based teaching and learning styles toward experiential instruction,
- Ongoing strategic counsel to the pilot schools from ASSET Inc., Pittsburgh’s science education reform program spearheaded by Bayer in 1992 that has dramatically improved student achievement in science in southwestern Pennsylvania.
In addition, the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute (KCALSI) recently signed on as a key partner in KCSI. As a partner, KCALSI will house the reform program’s headquarters and help galvanize support from other local corporations, foundations and individuals.
