About a year ago, as we at Hardin Valley Academy were putting together course offerings for our science department, I ran an idea by our principals of offering a high school level microbiology course. This course would be ideal for our Health Science Academy and our STEM Academy students, I believed. Our awesome administration agreed and the project began!
Considering the fact that no other high school in our area offers Microbiology, I began seeking out folks to discuss the course with. I met with teachers from our local community college who taught Microbiology and I also met with teachers from our city's major, research-based university. Both were helpful, but the teachers from our university are unbelievably cooperative, allowing me to attend the Introductory Microbiology Lab to refresh my lab skills and be current on lab techniques and safety procedures. I owe my sanity to them!
My county was also extremely cooperative in this endeavor. They allowed me to spend my textbook money allocated for this new course on oil immersion microscopes capable of magnifying up to 1000 times, something I felt was critical if I wanted to train my students to move seamlessly into a college level Microbiology course. I am truly lucky to teach in a system that is that supportive. The county science department also purchased an autoclave for me so I didn't have to raise funds for that.
However, I did need to raise funds, for I quickly determined that this would be a terribly expensive course to teach!
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