PAHS Biology Teacher Rebecca Souza at the CDC
*Photo Submitted

Press Release

PERTH AMBOY – People who are passionate about public health and disease transmission often dream of being asked to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. This past summer Rebecca Souza, a biology teacher at Perth Amboy High School, was fortunate enough to be invited spend a week at the CDC to work with science experts and with 31 other educators form across the nation to develop classroom material.

The CDC is the agency responsible for the protection and monitoring of health in the United States. As the nation’s public health leader, they respond to a variety of health crises (like the Ebola outbreak earlier this year).  Each summer, the CDC hosts a week-long professional development opportunity for select middle and high school math or science educators.   The Science Ambassador Program focuses on building and utilizing public health-based lesson plans in the classroom. The purpose is to create students with a genuine interest in population and community health. Prepared students will be able to continue their education at the collegiate level and become the next generation of public health workers in the U.S., and worldwide.

Program participants:

• Tour selected CDC facilities

• Learn from and interact with CDC scientists

• Participate in multiple sessions on selected topics led by public health professionals

• Work in teams to develop science lesson plans based on public health topics such as West Nile Virus, obesity, autism, smoking and teen dating violence

• Enhance their professional network of teachers and public health scientists

• Present ideas for lesson plans to peers and obtain feedback

The role of CDC Science Ambassador continues long after the week is over.  Participants continue work with the CDC experts on the lesson developed at the conference. All lessons are evaluated by CDC education supervisors and the specialists in each specific area. Ambassadors can reapply and return as program alumni to Atlanta and work on case study design, which is used by the CDC to train all Epidemic Intelligence Agents (EIS) for two years previous to deployment. For more information, and to apply for next summer visit: http://www.cdc.gov/scienceambassador/index.html