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ACT donation to create Belin-Blank math, science curriculum lab
Posted December 22, 2004
IOWA CITY -- A $30,000 gift from ACT Inc. will be used by the University of Iowa's Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development to create a mathematics and science curriculum laboratory on the fifth floor of the Blank Honors Center. In recognition of the gift, the space will be named the ACT Mathematics and Science Lab. In making the gift, ACT's CEO and Chairman Richard L. Ferguson wrote, "ACT has been proud to work with the Belin-Blank Center in helping to identify talented and gifted young people. We commend the Belin-Blank Center for its significant accomplishments in advancing talented and gifted education and are pleased that this gift will be used to support math and science instruction and curriculum development." The Belin-Blank Center is part of the UI College of Education and its administrative offices are located on the fifth and sixth floors of the Blank Honors Center on the T. Anne Cleary Walkway, east of the Chemistry Building. The fifth floor is still under construction and it - along with the math and science lab - is scheduled to fully open next June, in time for summer 2005 programs. Students in pre-college programs at the Belin-Blank Center will use the classroom for demonstration units in math and science, as will teachers developing math and science curriculum for high ability students. "ACT and the Belin-Blank Center have had a long relationship in working together to benefit students," said Nicholas Colangelo, Ph.D., director of the Belin-Blank Center. "The math and science lab is a continuation of this partnership and will enhance our work with teachers so that they will be more effective with high ability students. I am most grateful for the support from ACT." The Belin-Blank Center specializes in programming and research to meet the educational needs of exceptionally talented children and their teachers. It conducts an extensive roster of talent searches, pre-college programs, teacher training workshops and counseling programs. It also has partnerships with programs in other countries, making it both a national and international force. Additionally, the center has programs targeting teachers and students in nearly every grade level and from a variety of backgrounds, sponsors an annual state invention convention for K-12 students, promotes the use of Advance Placement courses across the state and recently issued a national report on accelerated education that has garnered widespread interest among educators, parents and national media. ACT is an independent, Iowa City-based, not-for-profit organization that provides more than 100 assessment, research, information and program management services in the broad areas of education planning, career planning and workforce development. Each year, ACT serves millions of people in high schools, colleges, professional associations, businesses, and government agencies -- nationally and internationally. Though designed to meet a wide array of needs, all ACT programs and services have one guiding purpose: to help people achieve education and career goals by providing information for life's transitions. The ACT gift is part of the UI's $1 billion comprehensive campaign, which will run through 2005 and is being conducted under the guidance of the UI Foundation. Named Good. Better. Best. Iowa: The Campaign to Advance Our Great University, the seven-year effort is raising private funds to help launch a variety of initiatives across the university, substantially increase the number of UI scholarships and endowed faculty positions, support new educational and research facilities, build the UI's endowment and fund outreach and service programs to benefit Iowans. The UI acknowledges the UI Foundation as the preferred channel for private contributions that benefit all areas of the university. For more information about the Good. Better. Best. Iowa campaign, visit its web site at www.GoodBetterBestIowa.org. Contact Information
Andrew Sheehy Additional information about supporting the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development also is available on this site. |