Call for
Applications
[Please note that the following is a
description provided to solicit applications for the 2001 Program.
The HOST Program was a pilot program that ran in the years 2000-2001 and
is not currently accepting applications]
Do you enjoy learning and teaching outdoors? Would you like to improve your knowledge of the environment and acquire new methods of teaching science? If so, please apply to become one of six exceptional teachers from select California high schools to participate in the NRS HOST Program. Through this exciting University of California program, you will participate in field-based science workshops and receive personal, one-on-one training at a natural reserve from reserve managers and on-site researchers for eight weeks during the summer 2001. This unique and memorable experience will increase your ability to inspire your students as well as spark your own lifelong interest in natural process and environmental education.
As a HOST Program teacher, you will enhance your
ability to make a difference in many ways:
 | You will gain confidence and new strategies to excite your students about the environment and engage them in exploratory investigation. |
| You will deepen your understanding of the scientific method, which can be taught in virtually any natural setting, whether near or far from your school. |
| You will acquire practical field skills through hands-on experience. |
| You will making lasting connections with other science teachers and a world-class community of scientists. |
Entering its second year, the HOST program is managed by the University of California Natural Reserve System (NRS) in collaboration with the University of California Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP). For over 35 years, the Natural Reserve System has provided unparalleled opportunities for teaching, research, and outreach at thirty-four diverse wild land sites across California. Accurately described as "outdoor classrooms" and "living laboratories," NRS reserves are protected lands set aside for all forms of field investigation, from rock art to river ecology and from landforms to land management, each year drawing 23,000 people from universities, governmental agencies, environmental organizations, and K-12 schools. In a climate where there are many challenges to public education, the NRS aims to provide a landscape for enriching educational opportunities for California high schools, thus inspiring teachers to teach and students to learn.
Application & Compensation
The HOST Program seeks creative, visionary high school science teachers with leadership qualities and an affinity for reaching out to students and other teachers. This rigorous program is best-suited for those who are highly devoted and self-motivated.
Teachers will receive support in the amount of $6,000 for their summer HOST Program training, which will support stipend, transportation, and subsistence. HOST teachers who successfully complete the program will receive support (paid to their schools) of $1,000 for student field trips to NRS reserves.
To apply, contact the HOST Program Coordinator or go to application. Deadline March 23, 2001.
Program Design
HOST Program Summer Training runs for eight weeks, from June 25 to August 16, 2001. Training will consist of three group workshops tuaght at NRS reserves, during which all teachers will join together to participate. In addition, each teacher will also be assigned individually to a different NRS reserve (depicted on the map) where he/she will undergo one-on-one training with NRS staff. HOST teachers will have three primary goals at their assigned reserves: (1) to find out about the natural resources and scientific work at their reserve , (2) to learn hands-on filed skills, and (3) to create teaching materials for use at NRS reserves and/or other natural areas closer to school. View the eight-week schedule.
1. Coal Oil Point Reserve
(Santa Barbara County, Commuter Reserve)
2. Hastings Natural History Reservation
(Monterey County, commute or overnight)
3. Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve
(Monterey County, overnight facilities)
4. Motte Rimrock Reserve
(Riverside County, commute or overnight)
5. Santa Cruz Island Reserve
(Santa Barbara County, overnight facilities)
6. Scripps Coastal Reserve
(San Diego County, commute or overnight)
Click on a Reserve to learn more about that reserve.
Click here to read Teacher Training Plans for each Reserve.
Introductory Course: This five-day workshop, "Introduction to the Scientific Method," will be taught by the HOST Course Instructor at the NRS's Motte Rimrock Reserve in Riverside County. HOST teachers will learn about the many facets of sciences, how people learn about sciences, and how to teach it, with an emphasis on the field.
Midpoint Workshop: This four-day workshop in the middle of the summer, taught at the Burns Pinon Ridge Reserve in San Bernandino County, will give HOST teachers an opportunity to share experiences they have had so far at their assigned reserves. They will also begin working on their teaching materials and learn some basic, practical hands-on field skills.
Follow-up Workshop: This three-day workshop, marking the culmination of the HOST training, will occur at the Bodega Marine Reserve in Sonoma County. HOST teachers will make presentations and plan for field trips with their students to reserves.