Stars and STEM Stories
Now a GLOBE Teacher, Former GLOBE Poland Student Magdalena Przyluska “Transmits” Passion for Science and Nature to Her GLOBE Students
“My adventure with GLOBE started 2000, when I was a student in high school in Przysucha, in Central Poland,” Magdalena Pryzluska said. “I got interested in GLOBE as far back as at the beginning of my education there, because it concerned both the nature in the surroundings of our school, and the global environmental issues.”
After a year of participating in The GLOBE Program, Magdalena became the president of GLOBE activities at her school. “That is how my interests in geography and natural science started to grow.”
In June 2002, Magdalena and two school mates represented their school at a science seminar in Białowieża, in North-Eastern Poland. “For the meeting with the GLOBE community, we had prepared, just like our friends from all of Poland, a paper on our activities in the program.”
In September 2002, she took part in GLOBE GAMES in Norway. “The wonderful impressions I had during my stay there, the unusual tasks and field games, will remain in my memory forever. It was a very stimulating experience, and a chance to meet people at my age from all around Europe.”
“The results of our measurements and investigations tuned out to be interesting for television. In January 2004, for the purposes of a Polish TV production, GLOBE participants joined in meteorology exercises in the geography laboratory. The TV program was later broadcast on the nationwide TV channel. The transmission of the program caused a great interest among headmasters and geography teachers. Many people phoned, asking us to speak about GLOBE to teachers and students.”
Magdalena later presented the results of the school’s measurements and meteorological investigations at a methodological conference for geography and biology teachers. “At this point, our high school education ended and our advanced studies began. Needless to say, geographical ones. At the university, during one of my courses, along with the supervisor of our GLOBE section, Mrs. Daniela Maj, I gave a lecture for the students about our participation in The GLOBE Program and its meaning for us,” Magdalena said.
In 2011, Magdalena became a geography teacher in the Complex of Upper Secondary Schools No. 4 in Łowicz. “I participated in the training program for teachers from the schools that wanted to join The GLOBE Program. At present, I teach in the High School No. 2 in Łowicz, and I cannot imagine our school not participating in the program. My students make atmospheric observations enthusiastically. They keep learning new things and they attend Polish GLOBE youth meetings”
“In June 2014, my students and I joined the Polish GLOBE GAMES in Iwonicz, in South-Eastern Poland. During the meeting, many interesting tasks and exercises for students were organized. It reminded me of my own experiences of being engaged in such activities.”
From the very beginning of her teaching career, Magdalena participated in national conferences for teachers working with The GLOBE Program. “Those meetings are great opportunities to exchange many interesting experiences from our work at school. I hope that my school will be a part of The GLOBE Program for many more years, and that I will be able to transmit my passion for geography and nature to another generations of students, just like my wonderful teacher, Mrs. Daniela Maj, did for me.”
STEM Story contributed by Dana Votapkova, Europe and Eurasia Regional Coordination Office