Corina Soto, a fifth-grade teacher at Boone Elementary School in Northwest San Antonio, has a special interest that makes her even more valuable to the students she serves--she is fascinated by the miniature wonders of microbiology.

This year Soto is continuing her studies through the Master of Science (M.S.) Evening Program in Microbiology, a two-year degree program offered by the Health Science Center's Department of Microbiology. More than 30 faculty, postdoctoral fellows and doctoral students voluntarily give up their evenings to offer the program--one that ensures schoolchildren will have science teachers who are up to date in biological sciences, biochemistry, molecular biology and microbiology.

The evening program bridges several levels of education. "If we are going to change our schools into what we want them to be, we need to tie them closely to our universities," said Stephen J. Mattingly, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and one of the course faculty. "We are a continuum--scientists, teachers and children. I think it's been interrupted in many disciplines, including science. But we are trying to change that by bringing the most up-to-date information into the classrooms where children are learning. Teachers are rejuvenated when they return to the classroom with the latest information, and when teachers become excited, children can't help but become excited, too."

Soto is soaking up lessons in the vocabulary and conceptual information needed to teach biological sciences, starting with biochemistry and moving into immunology, medical microbiology, virology, ecology and molecular biology. She and the other teachers in this spring's class are using the same textbooks studied by Ph.D. students.

Twenty-one teachers have enrolled in the evening program and 14 have completed it. The teachers represent 13 of the area's 20 school districts and one parochial high school. Because they have become full-fledged scientists in addition to being teachers, they are unique among the 2,000 math and science teachers in the San Antonio area.

"Our goal is to make teachers part of the faculty--an extension of our faculty into our region," Dr. Mattingly said. "We are maintaining close contact with them, and we've had M.S. program graduates come back to lead evening sessions. Our teachers often return to the Health Science Center to ask questions or keep up with new discoveries."

Each teacher writes a research-based thesis that may be submitted for publication or used in grant applications. Each may join a professional association and attend meetings to present research. "The teachers become professional microbiologists in every sense of the word," Dr. Mattingly said. The M.S. program is supported by several grants, including $25,000 from the Health Science Center's President's Council.

Children sense the teacher's growing confidence in the classroom; even behavioral problems seem to resolve when the scientist speaks. One child who becomes bored with the rest of class perks up when science instruction starts, Soto said. "He likes the fact I'm a scientist. I tell all the children what I'm doing; they think it's ‘cool' I'm going to be a scientist. I'm so glad the Health Science Center has given us a chance to do this."

"The sciences and math have a shortage of teachers," said Soto's principal, Rae Beth Barton. "When this opportunity arose for Corina, we were thrilled. She's a wonderful teacher--she has a sweet spirit, yet the children listen when she speaks." Soto, aided by a supportive husband, participates in the M.S. program despite having children ages 3 and 1 at home, Barton added. "We fight a lot of negative publicity about public schools, but the fact is there are a lot of Corina Sotos out there--good teachers who are doing a superb job."

"Some microorganisms are good and some are bad; some can cure diseases and some can cause them," volunteered Anthony Almeida, one of the budding young scientists. He went on to support his argument, noting that oil-eating microbes, used to clean up oil spills are examples of "good" microorganisms.

"I like to look in the microscope to see what's there," added Felicia Sanchez, one of Anthony's classmates. "I got a hundred on a test where we had to label all the parts of the microscope."

Recently, Soto's class learned about the Russian microbiologist Eli Metchnikoff (1845-1916). Never heard of him? You're not alone. But every child in Soto's class has heard of him and has drawn a picture of an event in his life. The class prepared a timeline about the scientist, who discovered phagocytes (cells that ingest micro-organisms or other cells and foreign particles).

Doctoral candidate Janelle Scott isn't teaching the Evening Program as part of her degree requirements, but because she believes in the program. "These teachers are the link between students knowing real science and science out of a book," she said. "We will create a group of children growing up who have an appreciation for science and a basis for scientific knowledge and understanding. They will not be scientifically illiterate adults." Scott is doing her dissertation studies in the lab of William G. Haldenwang, Ph.D., professor of microbiology, who also works with the M.S. program.

Dr. Mattingly has presented the evening program concept at meetings of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The program meets standards of the Health Science Center's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. "People involved in teaching initiatives have told me this program offers very hard-core science," he said. "The evening students are treated the same as all other graduate students, but the difference is they are concentrating on K through 12."

Soto, a seven-year classroom veteran, teaches all the subjects--history, math, English, reading, writing and more--but of course science is her specialty. That has become even more evident as she has progressed through the M.S. Evening Program. She is an example of the type of teacher the state of Texas wants to attract and foster.

In April 1997 the Texas Board of Education adopted a program called "Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills: Other Courses for Science Credit." It is an extension of the core science courses historically offered in the state's schools. These enrichment courses are offered as electives in high schools; the first such electives were implemented last September. Course categories include Scientific Research and Design, Anatomy and Physiology of Human Systems, Medical Microbiology, Pathophysiology, and Principles of Technology I and II. Teachers completing the M.S. Evening Program at the Health Science Center may become state certified to teach the Medical Microbiology and Pathophysiology enrichment courses, Dr. Mattingly said.

The university's Department of Physiology will inaugurate an evening program of its own next year, bringing in 10 teachers, and will enroll a new class every other year, alternating years with the Department of Microbiology. For the near future, that means 20 teachers from San Antonio and South Texas will be at the Health Science Center continuously. "This is the only program specifically geared to K through 12 teachers and offered in the evening so they can still teach," Dr. Mattingly said. "You might say we are reaching only a few teachers, but since each teacher sees 150 to 200 kids per day, the outreach is multiplied."