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Exclusive: Interview with Dr. Karen Ostlund Karen: I’ve been to CAST every single year. Wow, it’s been almost 30 years, and I haven’t missed a CAST. I am always present and accounted for.
Calendar President’s Message Affiliate News STAT BOD Nominees Exclusive: Interview with Dr. Karen Ostlund
STAT: And you give presentations at the conference, too. Karen: Yes, I always do. I do presentations for all levels. When I was with UT Austin’s UTeach program in the College of Natural Sciences, we trained secondary science teachers. I’ve since retired from there now, which is fortuitous given my new responsibilities at NSTA. STAT: Describe a little more in-depth what you did at UTeach.
wouldn’t have pursued the NSTA President position. While at UTeach, I was recruited heavily by NSTA, so when I let go of the job they came after me! I submitted my paperwork, was nominated, but I didn’t really think I would win. One day, I got a phone call saying, “You’ve won!” and that was it. STAT: I spent some time yesterday with Sharon Kamas, President-Elect of STAT, at the SBOE meeting. She suggested we put our legislative activity up higher on the association’s agenda. Right now, we’re advocating for science supplemental materials. It’s important for science teachers to get the materials they need in order to teach. Karen: Yes, definitely: you can’t teach if you’re unprepared. I started at UTeach in 2002, and around that time, TEA put out a call for professional development personnel, when they first developed the Essential Elements, and they wanted to train all teachers in Texas with it. So I got the grant from TEA, and it was called “Stepping into Successful Science Teaching.” I had the opportunity to meet all the leader s in science education in the state. I got to meet everyone and it was just so much fun. I was very fortunate to have this opportunity… it got me off and running in leadership in the state of Texas.
STAAR Resources T3 : Teachers Teaching Teachers STAT Membership Benefits
STAT: Let’s fast forward… how did you segue from Minnesota, to UTeach, to CAST, then into NSTA activities?
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Karen: We trained secondary teachers in science, math, and computer science. If I hadn’t retired, I
Karen: We always had a budget to go to conferences, so I started going to NSTA meetings via University funds. Since 1983, when I was a grad student, I’ve been going to their conferences as well. I would also do presentations there. Soon, I became President of the Council of Elementary Science International (CESI). At that time we were an NSTA Affiliate, so I sat on the Board of Directors for NSTA. I worked on projects for them, like teacher training books. When the last standards came out, NSTA wrote books for elementary, middle, and
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