Wisconsin Rapids Teacher Wins McAuliffe Fellowship

From the DPI Bulletin

Martha M. Kronholm, a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Grove Elementary School in Wisconsin Rapids, will engage her students in active learning through research into dragons and termites thanks to a national Christa McAuliffe Fellowship.

Kronholm’s proposal “From Komodo Dragons to Termite Emissions: Engaged Learning in New Technologies” will take her to Indonesia and the Kalahari desert and will connect her with students back in Wisconsin Rapids via computer, digital camera, and electronic mail. Kronholm will be a principal investigator for an expedition to Flores Island in Indonesia to track Komodo dragons, which face extinction due to loss of habitat to human settlements. In the spring of 1999, she will work as scientist for the research project in South Africa into how termite emissions contribute to harmful greenhouse gasses.

“Science should be tied to real life issues and problem solving,” Kronholm explained in her proposal. The two projects look at humans’ impact upon the environment and the environment’s impact on humans. Her research will be the foundation for student inquiry and hands-on projects that use technology to create multimedia presentations for the World Wide Web.

“This proposal will impact my classroom of 20 fifth- and sixth-graders, the 350 other students in my school, the 6,000 other students and 450 teachers in our school district, and countless others. The Internet opens the world to the classroom and the classroom to the world,” Kronholm said.

She was selected for the 1998 Christa McAuliffe Fellowship based on her past professional development, the proposal she submitted to the competition, the transportability of that project, and letters of support.

Kronholm holds advanced degrees that emphasized environmental and science education from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Her bachelor’s degree was from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Her outreach to educators and the scientific community through workshops, presentations, and publications is wide-ranging. She also has received numerous professional honors.

The Christa McAuliffe Fellowship program was established in memory of Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space who died in the Challenger shuttle explosion in 1986. It provides up to $34,210 to teachers with eight or more years of experience to use for various study, research, or academic improvement projects. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction administers the program.

Posted May 1, 1998