This episode of S4theB! features GK12 Program Coordinator Jeannie Tuschl, a veteran teacher and facilitator extraordinaire. Jeannie heads Vanderbilt's arm of this innovative and nationally recognized CSO, Meharry Medical College, and Tennessee State University program (funded, thank-you-very-much, by the National Science Foundation) that matches motivated graduate fellows with Metro Nashville Public Schools Middle School science teachers, then builds a strong teaching team utilizing an intensive (but fun!) 4 week workshop in the summer followed by a year-long ongoing partnership. Jeannie formerly worked with various local National Science Foundation projects providing teacher training in science instruction. She is the recipient of many awards, including 2003 Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Middle School Teacher of the Year and Tennessee Science Teachers Association Innovative Science Teacher of the Year. Previously, Jeannie wrote and produced the fourth grade science series, Changes All Around, for the Nashville PBS affiliate television station. And it's clear from the photo that accompanies this entry that Jeannie is still a busy woman. Have you ever seen so many post-it notes??? Download the podcast here. I promised to add a few links mentioned in the program, so here goes: the Vanderbilt Student Volunteers for Science, the CSO GK12 program, and Metro Nashville Public Schools. Oops, and I almost fergot: The Adventure Science Center!

In this episode of the mini-podcast I wanted to find out just what inspired our fair leader, Dr. Virginia L. Shepherd, to spearhead the set of programs that make up the work of the Center for Science Outreach. There's a great background article about her from the Vanderbilt Medical Center Reporter that will give you the long story (and a lot has transpired in the years past that publication--visit the CSO website to see all of it!); but the short story is that Ginny is just a wonderful, caring human being who is appalled at the "Great Divide" between science education in many of our nation's high schools and in the institutions of higher learning that often find they've lost their potential science students before they've even had a chance to hook them on exploration, research, and discovery. This episode also features a micro-soundseeing tour (of the south elevator in Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Light Hall, which houses the busy offices of the CSO). Download the podcast here! Or add our feed (from the sidebar to your left) to your favorite handy-dandy aggregator!

Next week we'll add another Snacks4theBrain! to the growing archive. This week I'm ironing out issues with the MultiConferenceUnit at Vanderbilt and prepping our folks for a new "season" of offerings. Patience, Grasshopper...