CGS teachers attend summer educational program

Six Chester Grade School teachers recently attended the eighth annual Oil and Gas Summer Educational Program in Mt. Vernon.

CGS teachers Rachel Francis, Stephanie Jany, Tammy Liefer, Stephanie Kennedy, Mandy Kueker-Lochhead, and Beckie Vieregge participated in the Elementary Science portion of the program.

The program is sponsored by the Illinois Petroleum Resources Board (IPRB). The purpose of this body is to provide public awareness and education programs about the Illinois oil and natural gas industry.

The IPRB also strives to clean up abandoned oil field facility sites throughout the state.

Funding for the IPRB comes from voluntary contributions of Illinois oil and natural gas producers and royalty owners.

The Chester teachers attended the four-day program free of charge and also received teacher classroom kits valued at more than $200.

Altogether there were 70 teachers that attended the program, which included tours of on-site drilling, production and storage facilities in southern Illinois.

Educational activities included learning about geology, leasing, engineering, drilling and production, transportation, and refining of oil into thousands of products that communities use on a daily basis.

Geologists' ideas for teaching in the classroom focused on the fun of teaching geology to students by employing various aids within the classroom environment.

Participants at the 2017 event earned 7.5 professional development hours, plus two graduate credits at Illinois State University, or they earned 37.5 professional development hours.

The CGS teachers were very impressed with the quality of the experience and really loved receiving the classroom instruction kits.

The IPRB is already in the process of planning for next year's program in the summer of 2018. Due to the success of this summer's program and the high level of satisfaction of the CGS attendees, more CGS or Chester High School teachers may take advantage of this opportunity next summer.