Arkansas teacher inspired by daughters

(HOT SPRINGS, AR) -- As almost three dozen Garland County educators participated in QTL™ through demonstration sessions in Hot Springs this summer, one Cutter Morning Star middle school teacher took the lessons to heart for both professional and personal reasons.

Environmental educator Kathy Hopper says she's already making plans to make use of the biocube activity, and loved the idea of students create 'trading cards' on subjects they're studying -- something QTL™ participants do as one of the program's activities. She's hoping to get digital microscopes for use in her science lessons.

"Oh, I loved QTL™," she says, adding that she has already used some of the concepts such as cooperative learning along with a Cutter Morning Star English teacher.

Ironically, Hopper says part of her newfound confidence in putting technology to work in the classroom came from her daughters Hayley and Rebekah, who have been learning about computers through the tech support program at their school, Lake Hamilton High. Hayley, who's now studying physics at Hendrix College, was even the webmaster for the school district during her senior year.

"She's a remarkable young woman," Hopper says, adding that she has two other daughters and a stepdaughter who are all also talented. So she attended QTL™ with the perspective of both a teacher and a parent eager to see her children get the best learning environment possible.

Hopper and her daughters have been invited to speak at the Women's Foundation of Arkansas, thanks to her involvement in "Girls of Promise," a program designed to inspire 8th grade girls in the areas of math and science. The program sponsors workshops that draw women in science and technology careers -- including astronauts, fighter pilots, chemists and engineers -- to speak to middle school girls. It's a passion that the Hopper women share.

"Education is very important to us," she says.