President's Message
YOUR Consortium at the Next Level
This is an exciting time for the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Sciences, and Technology! Now in its nineteenth year as an organization, NCSSSMST has grown from 15 original member schools to nearly 100 institutional members and 110 affiliates and associates. This phenomenal growth is due to the diligence and dedication of our member schools and the individuals who staff them. Our growth reflects vision of those few original members -- a vision that is now shared by thousands of teachers, counselors, administrators, and staff at “school like ours.”
Our growth is evident in the development and continuing success of our annual Student Conference in the fall and the Research Symposium, both of which showcase the talents of our students. The NCSSSMST Professional Conference draws over 300 participants each year and has forged partnerships between the affiliate colleges, universities, research centers, and member schools. In addition, we continue to offer Summer Institutes in science, engineering, and mathematics for the professionals in our schools. And, for the past three summers, grants have provided opportunities for middle school students from underrepresented populations to participate in residential, hands-on science camps.
Ours is an organization on the move. We have, for the first time, hired an executive director to manage the Consortium’s business. We have published Guiding Student Research: Make Research Happen in Your School, which is intended to support teachers, students, and administrators in school-based research. And we are working on a second book to help others begin programs like ours -- programs that have successfully promoted and transformed mathematics, science, and technology education.
For the past three summers, member schools have sent teams of students to the Keystone Science Center to participate in policy summits dealing with finding better energy sources for transportation and providing solutions for the ongoing issue of nutrition’s impact on childhood obesity.
NCSSSMST has moved from a small, committed, collaborative network of schools supporting a common goal to an organization with national recognition and that is actively creating partnerships and impacting educational initiatives across the country. This growth has not changed our focus on teaching and learning.
I am honored to serve as the president of an organization that continues to work toward the betterment of services for students and am looking forward to the future.
Janet Hugo, Ph.D.
NCSSSMST President for 2006-2007
Director, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts
