Williamsville Central School District Technology Education Teachers Visit
MCEER Information Service hosted the Williamsville Central School District Technology Education Teachers for a lecture on the research objectives of MCEER in disaster resiliency, the recent relief and reconnaissance efforts following the natural disasters in Haiti and Chile, and the education and outreach objectives and resources developed by the staff. Williamsville CSD participates in the national Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Engineering program offering students hands-on experience in college preparatory-level classes, labs and creative exercises at both the Middle and High School levels. As outlined by Chris McGinley, Instructional Specialist for Math and Technology Education, the purpose of the visit was not only to experience first-hand a local example of excellence in engineering, but to increase an awareness of MCEER and the types of technology that are used so that their teachers are better able to make more real-world connections with their students.
Williamsville CSD Technology Education Teachers
The visit, co-hosted by Andrew McNeil and Sofia Tangalos, included a presentation incorporating numerous photos detailing structural damage from past, historical earthquakes and the archived test videos from the NEESWood Benchmark Shake Table Testing of a Full-Scale Two-Story Townhouse Woodframe Building performed in SEESL in November of 2006. The afternoon ended with a brainstorming session regarding potential practical collaboration between the education and outreach initiatives of MCEER and the pre-engineering PLTW curriculum as practiced by the Technology Education department of Williamsville CSD. MCEER IS currently serves as members of Williamsville's PLTW Partnership Team - a group of committed educators, technical workers, engineers and community members who function in an advisory capacity to the Technology Education Department. The visit occurred on March 19, 2010.