Participants screen chemical solutions in search of a fictitious new medicine at the R_xeSEARCH Summer Institute, which prepared teachers in August 2007 to implement the curriculum about how medicines are made in their schools during the 2007-2008 school year.

The program is novel in its approach to integrated teaching and learning at the high school level and encourages a paradigm shift from the traditional teaching. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation's R_xeSEARCH Educational Initiative strives to educate today's youth about the risks and rewards of developing new medicines through a program of integrated teaching and learning. The long term objective of the program is to create informed consumers of health care and to foster collaborative, cross-disciplinary teaching and learning while improving student performance in math, science and technology and strengthening skills in problem-solving, analysis, critical thinking and decision-making -- all highly valued in the work environment. A total of 11 lessons guide students through the pharmaceutical process on how medicines are made.

The R_xeSEARCH educational initiative also provides a forum to teach the next generation about the development of new drugs -- the challenges, risks and rewards. The educational program will also educate young people about industry's impact on health and well-being of the general public, showing that medicines are increasingly important to patient care, that they help contain healthcare costs by reducing hospitalizations and surgeries, and that they strengthen the U.S. economy by reducing workplace absenteeism and enhancing productivity. It may lead to students deciding to enter careers in the pharmaceutical industry or related health fields.

The program includes a textbook, five integrated units of study, individual lesson plans in biology, chemistry, language arts, math and social studies, a dedicated web site and an R&D board game to reinforce learning, generate interest and encourage teamwork in a competitive format. While students will be exposed to this curriculum, the program also includes professional development for their teachers and qualitative evaluation of the entire initiative. It will seek to improve science, math and technology literacy, provide teachers with multi-disciplinary lessons, tools and support and build an understanding of career paths in the pharmaceutical industry among educators and students.

Teacher training took place at a special Summer Institute in August 2007 after a number of initial pilot programs to test the curriculum earlier in the year at several of the school districts. The program is currently being piloted in the New York/New Jersey area in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Education and seven school districts: Montgomery, Monmouth County Vocational, New Brunswick, Newark, Princeton, West Windsor-Plainsboro, all in New Jersey, and Staten Island in New York.

In addition, PhRMA, the research-based U.S. pharmaceutical industry trade association, has taken the lead in moving the program beyond Bristol-Myers Squibb and its local community school districts, with the assistance of the Museum of Contemporary Science in Trenton, NJ. Thus far it has enlisted the participation of a number of other companies and school districts. These include Schering-Plough, Wyeth, Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline. Districts in Iowa and Philadelphia are also participating. Additional sponsors include the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey. A total of 19 school districts are currently implementing the program in five states.

The program is being monitored and evaluated by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study.

With a $300,000, three-year grant, the new Center, to be located in downtown Hartford, will seek to help inspire children to pursue careers in science, math and engineering. The grant will help support this $150 million project, a state-of-the-art interactive science center expected to serve 400,000 visitors annually. The education programs at the center will be integrated with science education efforts currently underway at the company's Wallingford facility and at a new planned center at Quinnipiac University.

Bristol-Myers Squibb also helped develop and support Materials Resource Centers for kit replenishment and distribution to all partnership schools throughout the implementation phase. As a critical component in the support of teacher professional development, selected groups of K-8 lead teachers are offered the opportunity to participate in weeklong summer programs designed to strengthen teacher skills in science content, inquiry-centered instruction, and integration of science and mathematics. All costs of participation are covered by company grants to the service providers, such as the Keystone Science School, the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS), Columbia University Teachers College and the Park City Mathematics Institute.

Closely linked to this initiative aimed at building a network of leadership schools, school districts and regional education service providers, is the role played by the company in national education policy leadership, reform effectiveness evaluation and curriculum development. Through grants to the National Research Council, the Council on Aid to Education, the National Alliance for Business, the Business Coalition for Education Effectiveness and BSCS, important new directions and curriculum materials have been developed and studied for efficacy. Under the program, based on a concept developed by the National Science Resources Center at the Smithsonian Institution, the company and the Foundation have formed partnerships with 28 public school districts and educational consortia, touching hundreds of thousands of students in four states as well as in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Sweden.

In addition, since 1998, the Foundation has spearheaded elementary science education reform in Puerto Rico through an alliance with the Puerto Rico Department of Education and the Puerto Rico Statewide Systemic Initiative. Since 1999, the Foundation has also provided leadership and support for the Swedish Systemic Science Education Reform initiative, "Science and Technology for All," coordinated by the Royal Swedish Academy of Science and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Science. Also in 1999, the Foundation formed an alliance with the U.S.-Mexico Foundation for Science to support regional systemic reform initiatives in Mexico City, Tamaulipas, Vera Cruz and Nuevo León.

While the primary emphasis of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Science Education effort is on reform implementation and capacity building in the formal education domain, a smaller, but important effort has been designed to benefit Bristol-Myers Squibb employee volunteers and their children. BMS BLAST (Building Leadership and Assistance for Science Teaching) is a dedicated science education element to encourage employees to take an active part in their children's science education, at home and in the classroom. Through BLAST libraries, operating at all Bristol-Myers Squibb sites, employees can access books, videotapes, CDs and hands-on science kits at science education resource centers. Short courses and expert seminars, dedicated to training company volunteers, are also offered. The company encourages its scientists and engineers to serve as volunteer Community Scientists in alliances with participating school districts and academic Centers for Science Teaching and Learning.

By offering professional early childhood counselors access to exemplary curriculum materials and training to encourage exploration, investigation and observation, the very young children under their care will become more fearless in their future exploration, more practiced "askers of questions," and therefore, better students and learners through guided inquiry, a pedagogical method commonly used in kindergarten and elementary school.

Since learning by inquiry adds effectiveness to many subject areas besides science, BLAST PreK hopes to help open doors to life-long learning through children's earliest experiences.

BLAST PreK provides tools for use at home, at child-care centers, or in school and encourages the active involvement of parents regardless of the setting.

The design of these materials favors "opportunistic teaching and learning," and helps the teacher capitalize on "the teachable moment" of the day. We have attempted to design these kits to be useful when a colorful insect suddenly lands on the window, when the unexpected rain squall turns the playground into mud, or when a child starts to wonder why she can't see in the dark.

BLAST PreK Kits The six BLAST PreK kits address phenomena that are familiar to young children and are everyday things at which children marvel. All of the kits include many hands-on science explorations, children's trade books to connect the themes to literature, suggestions for related art, music and free-choice activities, and a notebook to guide the teacher, parent or childcare provider. The kits also include a take-home Family Connection activity to provide a bridge between home and school or childcare.

Exploring Insects - "What is that neat bug on the window? Will it bite?" Children learn about the basic body part of insects, act out their life-cycle and go on a "Critter Safari" in search of insects to observe.

Exploring Play - "Why does my ball bounce? Why do my sneakers slow me down on the slide?" Children explore the phenomena behind their everyday play: friction on the slide, balls and gravity, shadows and how their own body moves when at play.

Exploring Senses - "Why can't I see in the dark? What is that yummy smell?" Children investigate their sight, smell, touch, hearing and tasting through a variety of sensory explorations.

Exploring Water - "Why does my raincoat keep me dry? Why are water drops always round?" Children observe a water drop and how it moves and experiment with what does and doesn't absorb water.

Exploring Food and Fitness - "What is inside of me? Why can't I just eat candy?" Children explore the basics of how their hearts beat, their lungs breathe, how their skeleton and muscles work together, and how digestion works while also learning how to eat right and keep active.

Exploring Sound - "What made that sound? Why are some sounds high or low?" Children learn about the root sources of sound, vibrations, by playing with rhythm instruments and their own voices, and they explore other properties of sound such as pitch and volume.

BLAST PreK will be offered as in-kind philanthropic gifts to non-profit child care centers willing to participate in a year-long program evaluation. Forty-five child care providers in New Jersey and Connecticut will be selected for program participation over three years, beginning in 2005. One group has already completed their first year and a second group of providers is now beginning participation.

BLAST PreK offers a strategic education element, otherwise missing from the national systemic science education agenda. Particularly valuable in communities where guided inquiry has been incorporated as a science teaching strategy, K-12, the program will also strengthen early childhood learning, stimulate and prepare young minds for structured studies of the natural world around them.

At the core of these partnerships are Bristol-Myers Squibb Centers for Science Teaching and Learning. Bristol-Myers Squibb has committed support for the development of two such centers, at Rider University and Montclair State University, in New Jersey. A third center will open in 2007 at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, on the waterfront of the Farm River. They serve as "nerve centers" for regional activities for science education reform, administering needs analyses, coordinating services to educators and evaluating progress. A growing network of these centers will ensure broad dissemination of best practices for schools and ultimately, for students.

In 2002, the company funded the creation of a Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Science Teaching and Learning, an academic center of excellence for pre-service and in-service preparation of teachers of science, at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. A second center was supported at Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey. These serve as operational bases for Rider's SELECT program and Montclair State's PRISM program, both of which focus on teacher professional development.

Teacher Professional Development
Rider University RIDER SELECT Program for Integrated Science Teaching, Lawrenceville, NJ

Materials Resource Center
Museum of Contemporary Science, Science-to-Go, Trenton, NJ

New Jersey
Paterson Diocese

Indiana
Evansville Vanderburg School Corporation

International
Puerto Rico (University of Puerto Rico & Puerto Rico Department of Education)
Sweden (Royal Swedish Academy of Science)
Sweden (Municipalities of Linköping, Södertälje and Nacka)
US-Mexico Foundation for Science (Mexico City, Neuvo León, Tamaulipas, Vera Cruz)