Texas association partners again on teacher training

The Texas Aggregates & Concrete Association (TACA) and the Texas Mining & Reclamation Association (TMRA) sponsored a training event to educate teachers on how minerals affect daily lives and how they are mined in the state.

During the weeklong teacher training, which took place July 18-23 in San Antonio, 14 Texas science teachers learned about the availability, importance and development of industrial minerals, including aggregate such as sand, gravel and crushed stone. According to TACA, the workshop included classroom sessions and hands-on labs covering plate tectonics, mining exploration and extraction techniques, brick, asphalt and concrete construction and post-mining land use. Teachers also toured a quarry, a cement plant and other industrial minerals mining facilities.

The program aims to highlight vocational and professional career choices in earth sciences and related fields, supporting the economic value of Texas mining, TACA says.

In addition, each teacher received 40 to 45 hours of professional development. The program is aligned with state requirements, meeting the majority of new education standards for earth science through all grade levels.

“Professional development for educators is extremely valuable and contributes to the growth of personal content knowledge,” says Cheryl Allison, TMRA’s education director. “TMRA/TACA workshops combine field work with industry experts and hands-on activities to provide educators with a content-rich, rigorous experience.”

Workshop participants leave with curriculum, e-logs and cross sections, PowerPoints and activity equipment – all of which can be used in their classrooms, the association says.

In 2019, TACA and TMRA partnered on the industrial minerals workshop, which is one of TMRA’s three mining industry workshops. TACA will continue to augment the industrial minerals segment of the summer workshops by updating and expanding the curriculum to provide more relevant and accurate information on the work of TACA members.