INFORMS Public Awareness Committee (PAC)

High School Teachers Workshop in Operations Research to be held at the Washington, DC INFORMS Meeting, Monday, October 13, 2008, from 8:30AM - 4:00PM.

Location: Marriott Wardman Park Hotel (Thurgood Marshall Ballroom East)

This is a great opportunity for high school and middle schools teachers to learn about Operations Research and to bring the techniques of OR directly into the classroom. The PAC has been sponsoring Teachers Workshops for many years at our national meetings, and as a result, countless educators have learned mathematical applications for the real world. Sign-up for the Workshop is only $25, and covers the whole day of activities, including lots of take-away materials as well as some really tasty meals and snacks. (Actually, we're even willing to give you a $25 scholarship to pay for the registration if that's a constraint. You may even be able to obtain in-service credit for attendance.)

Here is a letter explaining the Workshop (suitable for administrators): Teachers Workshop intro letter

Here is a flyer that you can hang up around your school: Teachers Workshop flyer

Here is a convenient registration form: Teachers Workshop registration form

Here is the tentative speaker schedule (though this will likely change a bit): Teachers Workshop schedule

STOP PRESS! All attendees of the Teachers Workshop are cordially invited to attend the INFORMS Computing Society's (ICS) social hour on Monday evening (precise room and time TBA). This is an absolutely super opportunity to meet and interact with academics and professionals at the intersection of Operations Research and Computer Science - all while enjoying the finest wine and cheese. Here is the ICS website.

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Some additional links:

INFORMS is our national professional organization. This link will give you all sorts of details about Operations Research and the Management Sciences.

And here is the link to the DC Meeting itself: Washington Meeting. As an attendee of the Teachers Workshop, you are welcome to attend any and all Conference activities. It's already shaping up as a fantastic event!

Our fearless PAC Chair, Ken Chelst (Wayne State Univ) has developed a wonderful series of teachers modules that show how to use Operations Research in the classroom. You can download portions of them for free, and he's put many of them together in a really nice book that's very reasonably priced. We've had a lot of success in local high schools teaching this material. You can get more details at: High School Operations Research page

Here is an article from the INFORMS flagship professional magazine, OR/MS Today, that describes a large grant that Ken and his colleagues recently obtained to develop a high school OR course. "MINDSET" grant

WhizKids is a terrific foundation that strives to improve science and technology awareness in elementary, mddle, and high schools students. They're one of our partners, and are happy to provide free assistance to schools, clubs, and individuals interested in science and math.

If you have any questions at all, please send me (Dave Goldsman) an email at sman@gatech.edu. Col. Frank Trippi is also a great resource if you have any questions. He's at ftrippi1@verizon.net and is eagerly awaiting your e-mail!