TEACHER'S CORNER: TEACHING VETERAN USES ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY FOR SCIENCE LESSONS

Twenty-year teaching veteran Helen Gibbar uses advanced technology to teach her students about ... technology.

Gibbar, who has taught at Cape Girardeau Central High School for the past 12 years, teaches biochemical technology to juniors and seniors at the school. Corporate and educational partners have provided the school with a sophisticated biotechnology lab that allows students to get a glimpse of what professionals in the field are accomplishing today.

"They enable the students to stay current with today's rapid rate of advances in biological science and technology, said Gibbar, who received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Southeast Missouri State University. "This is really important in a technology and science that produced Dolly (the sheep) by cloning last year and then, within months, demonstrated how to use the technology in producing the blood clotting factor IX."

Gibbar said she leads students through a variety of current scientific techniques, including isolating DNA and cloning bacteria strands. Students become educated consumers of technology by using it and understanding the principles it is based upon, she said.

She also makes sure her students spend some time using the Internet to study various scientific subjects. Students go online to chat with other students and science technicians around the world about Antarctica's weather and climate, as well as the ecology of seals and penguins and even global warming, she said.

Gibbar said she enjoys her job because of the many people she comes into contact with and the variety the job provides. "I like the interaction and can honestly say that one day is rarely a copy of the day before it," she said. "Students have not really changed that much over the years though some aspects have gotten better and some worse. It's our job as teachers to encourage the 'better aspects.'"