Barbara Schulz is a Teacher Leader with the National
Academy in the Center for Education and is leading the development
and operation of the Teacher Advisory Council.
She brings a wealth of experience to her work with
the Academies. With a Bachelors degree from the University of Illinois,
and a Masters degree in Secondary Science Education from the University
of Washington, Barbara has a long-standing love for teaching and working
with young people. For 35 years, she taught Biology, Advanced Placement
Biology, Environmental Science and many other classes to students in
the 7th through 12th grades. Her experience spans public and private
schools, middle and high schools and outreach programs in the Seattle
area. She holds a K-12 lifelong teaching certificate and a Secondary
Principal Certification in Washington State. She has served as High
School Division Director for the National Science Teachers Association,
President of Washington Science Teachers Association and President
of the National Association of Biology Teachers.
Barbara has a record of leadership in education. As President of the
National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT), she collaborated with
Genentech, Inc. to support the professional development program and
web site called Access Excellence (AE). As a strong advocate for educational
outreach, Barbara networked with many scientific societies and was
an invited presenter at many national meetings to talk about making
connections between science teachers and scientists. By acknowledging
cultural similarities and differences, she assisted others in making
significant connections with educational professionals who work with
K-12 students. In this capacity she was instrumental in establishing
a schoolyard Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) collaboration with
the nationally funded LTER program.
A firm believer in research experiences for her students, Barbara established
a program called Shoreline Laboratory and Invention Convention where
students from the entire school district could engage in science contests,
present posters of their research and display inventions.
Not to be left out of the research experiences, Barbara is the recipient
of several research fellowship awards and spent time at Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center, during several summers, studying lamp-brush
chromosome structure in chickens. She then received a fellowship award
to join a research team in the McMurdo Dry Valley Mountains of Antarctica
to conduct environmental research projects in the most pristine environment
on the planet. During this research and subsequent trips to Antarctica,
she maintained journal entries and engaged students in research questions
via the web.
As a result of her research fellowship awards, Barbara quickly recognized
the value of connecting practicing teachers with the scientific research
community. With her mentor scientist, Dr. Nancy Hutchison, she developed
a professional development program for teachers at Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) in Seattle called Science Education
Partnership. This can be viewed on the web at the following site www.fhcrc.org/education This program has been operating for more than 10 years and is supported
in part by Howard Hughes grants.
As more biology teachers in the Seattle area became connected to the
scientific community, it became clear that there was a need for research
experiences for young people. When given an opportunity, Barbara started
a research lab for kids, BioLab, where young people with similar interest
could come together, meet in research teams and conduct their own research
projects. BioLab was housed at FHCRC, operated for two years and was
temporarily closed due to the downturn in the economy.
She was recently Acting Associate Director of HutchLab; an educational
outreach program offered at FHCRC where high school aged young people
can come together in the research lab and spend a week of intensive
science investigation during the summers and where teachers can bring
classes for a one-day workshop during the academic school year.
Barbara has been honored with several awards including the Presidential
Award for Excellence in Teaching Science and Mathematics, The Outstanding
Biology Teacher award and the Tandy Technology Scholar Award. She was
recently a collaborating member of a scientific team researching ecological
systems and doing the educational outreach for that team.
With a passion for teaching young people, working with teachers and
for collaborating with the research community, Barbara brings an intense
energy to establishing the Teacher Advisory Council in the Center for
Education where she is currently employed.
