Erskine College has been selected for the second time to be a host site for the Tandy Excellence in Elementary Science Initiative, according to a release from the Foundation for Independent Higher Education (FIHE).

Erskine is one of 10 schools nationwide selected to host the Tandy-sponsored program, designed to assist elementary science teachers in strengthening their ability to interest students through the use of hands-on activities and through the better understanding of ways to present basic concepts in science to younger students.

The 10 awards of $6,500 each were awarded to FIHE-affiliated colleges in Iowa, Maryland, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas to host intensive, one-day workshops for local elementary teachers.

The Erskine workshop on Aug. 29 is scheduled to accommodate 100-160 area teachers, and will include eight activities emphasizing hands-on experiences.

For example, in "Do You Have a Frog in Your Throat?" participants will learn to use voice prints from the calls of birds, frogs and even insects to teach the fundamentals of sound.

In "Daytime Astronomy Activities for Elementary Students," participating teachers will use a pin-hole reflection technique to safely project the sun on the classroom wall to allow the calculation of the sun's diameter and the safe viewing of solar eclipses.

These activities have been developed to be fun and to excite the interest of the young learner, involving him or her as an exploring scientist, said Erskine Physics Professor Dr. Bill Junkin, who submitted Erskine's winning proposal and who will host the Erskine Tandy workshop.

Matthew Himley, of FIHE, said a review panel selected the 10 workshop sites based on the submitted proposals.

He said the review panel looked for colleges that had a meaningful and substantive partnership established with the school district or showed in the proposal how the Tandy workshop would be basis for such a relationship.

Erskine has had partnerships with nine area school districts since 1987, and has specific partnerships with Cherokee Trail Elementary School, Wright Middle School, Dixie High School, Belton-Honea Path High School, Laurens High School, and 12 other schools through the institution's education department.

Junkin said likely participants in the Tandy Workshop at Erskine will be instructors from Abbeville School District 60, Greenwood School District 50, Greenwood School District 51, Greenwood School District 52, Laurens School District 55, Laurens School district 56, McCormick School District, Newberry School District and Saluda School District.

Himley also said the panel looked for proposals that presented innovative plans to incorporate student-teachers into the workshop, and for workshops that fully engaged participants in active, hands-on, inquiry-based science learning activities.

Junkin said the quality of the science faculty and the programs they have presented has ensured high demand and an oversubscription of offerings at Erskine.

"Erskine has a reputation for providing quality experiences," Junkin said. "By building on the success of the previous Tandy Initiative (1996), we feel this will be the best one-day event we have ever held."