LabTutor donated to New Orleans science education

ADInstruments has announced that it will donate a LabTutor human physiology system to the New Orleans Regional Science and Math Center.

Like the rest of region, New Orleans School District is still rebuilding post-Katrina.

The district's science programme was extensively affected, but is recovering in association with the opening of seven new high schools planned by the year's end.

The New Orleans Regional Science and Math Center was developed in the storm's aftermath by educators Dana Gonzalez and Andrea Walker, and is administered by the University of New Orleans Foundation.

According to Dana Gonzalez, who is also the public school district's math and science specialist, the centre was created to ensure that science and math remained a priority during the rebuilding of the school system.

"We wanted to ensure that even though political fences were going up, we were still working to support science in all city and state public classrooms," said Dana Gonzalez.

"If it had not been for the support of organisations and companies like ADInstruments, we would not be able to offer resources and training to the many very grateful science and math teachers".

Additionally, twenty biology teachers will participate in a professional development day run by ADInstrumnts on 7-8 February 2008.

The development day will be led by Wes Colgan, ADInstruments's education project manager and a former instructor at Louisiana Tech University.

"We want to give the New Orleans secondary students an advantage by providing them with access to knowledge and technology that is usually reserved for college students," said Colgan.

"The ADInstruments equipment grant programme was recently established for the purpose of reaching out to those communities that can benefit from our corporate involvement.

"Our continuing efforts to assist innovative science education programmes are inspired by our youth's interest and literacy in science".