 | | | From left, Jacob Martin, Marcus Ferreira, and Vickie Obenchain. Photo provided | | | | | | Science teacher Vickie Obenchain, affectionately known by her Saklan School students as Miss O, has been selected as one of only 30 educators from across the country to participate in the 2014 Food and Drug Administration Professional Development Program in Food Science to be held July 20 through July 27 in Washington, D.C.
The one-week program will provide hands-on activities that link food science and food safety to students' everyday lives. Participants will learn also about nutrition, food allergies, cosmetics safety, and color additives from FDA experts; and receive nutrition material to help teach their students how to use the Nutrition Facts Label to make better food choices. Another goal of the program is to educate teachers about critical food safety issues. Participants will tour FDA laboratories and meet the scientists, explore food safety on the farm at government research sites, learn about the development and spread of food borne illnesses, and study the science associated with safe food handling, storage, and preparation. A follow-up conference is included in the program.
The FDA and the National Science Teachers Association has initiated this workshop to implement a professional development program in food science that is consistent with the National Science Education Standards. On the completion of the course, Obenchain will give professional development workshops to the Saklan faculty and will also give a talk to parents at one of the PA Parent Workshop programs in the fall which will be open to the Lamorinda community.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA