About the Author

Barbara is a Talented and Gifted Specialist, having taught in an elementary classroom for twenty-three years. The daughter and grand daughter of teachers, she knew from a very early age that teaching would bring her fulfillment. She has received recognition at both the state and national level for her work in science with students and colleagues. She received the "Teacher of the Year" award from the Oregon Chapter of the American Electronics Association, the "Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Math Teaching", the "Elementary Science Teacher of the Year" from the Oregon Science Teachers Association, and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and Tektronix with their "Teacher of the Year" award. She was recognized for her work with technology in the classroom by Texaco and Oregon Public Broadcasting with the "Technology Teacher of the Year" award. An early phobia about science was overcome with the help of many truly patient mentors, including: Dr. Marie Brown, Maureen Daschel (St. Mary's Academy), Tom Worchester (Mt. Hood Community College), Phil Brady, Dr. Dwight Kimberly (George Fox University), Karl Wetzel, Kip Ault (Lewis and Clark College), Norm Lederman (Illinois Institute of Technology), Jan Dubrowski, and Dave Cox. Writing her first science book grew from a frustration Barbara felt with the lack of materials that fit the Oregon expectations for concept process science in the early 1990's. Teachers who attended her class through Portland State University (Finding Concept Process Science in Children's Literature) encouraged her to write more science units that were just as teacher friendly. This led to an expansion of her class to a six-quarter series of courses (Cycles, Change, Force, Cause and Effect 1, Cause and Effect 2, and Science with Math). These books were refined as part of her Masters in Science program through Oregon State University (1993).

When the Hillsboro School District adopted her curriculum in 1998, she expanded her books and wrote new ones so that there were eighteen in the set, Earth, life and physical science for each of the six grades from kindergarten to grade 5. Her inservices are enthusiastically received by teachers in the district. Many have remarked that they no longer fear teaching science, their confidence has improved and they are excited about committing more time in their classroom to science. When the Hood River School District adopted her curriculum in 2000, she expanded her books, adding work sample suggestions that met state guidelines for science, math, writing, and speaking. When the North Clackamas School District and the Tigard-Tualatin School District adopted her curriculum in 2001, she added CD's that contain spoken English and Spanish essays that match each book. In addition, teachers will find pdf files of teacher and student resources and worksheets saved in a word processing program that allows them to adapt worksheets to the needs of individual students. All of these additions were in response input from Oregon teachers about the support needed for students in their classrooms.

The Simply Science program was approved by the Oregon Board of Education in August, 2001. These school districts have adopted Simply Science: Albany, Astoria, Brothers, Butte Fallls, Central, Creswell, Crook County, Dayton, Diamond, Eagle Point, Elkton, Estacada, Glide, Hillsboro, Hood River, Huntington, Marcola, McMinnville, North Marion, Nyssa, Phoenix-Talent, Pine Eagle, Pinehurst, Prospect, Seaside, St. Helens, Stanfield, Sweet Home, Tigard-Tualatin, Tillamook, Vernonia, and Willamina. In addition, private and charter schools have adopted the program, including: Baker Charter School, Eddyville Charter School, MITCH, Multisensory Learning Academy, Navy Hale Keiki in Honolulu, Siletz Charter School, St. Agatha School, St. Matthew's School, Three Rivers Charter School, and Willamette Christian. Many districts chose to adopt the program for primary or intermediate grades only, including: Faith Bible School, Centennial, David Douglas, Florence, Neah-Kah-Nie, North Clackamas, Oregon City, and Sisters.

Currently, Barbara is working with teachers from a variety of public and private schools and teaching through Portland State University in addition to her work with gifted students.

©2007 Simply
Science