{"id":696,"date":"2008-08-23T23:51:50","date_gmt":"2008-08-24T03:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=696"},"modified":"2008-09-28T21:57:30","modified_gmt":"2008-09-29T01:57:30","slug":"fcs-in-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=696","title":{"rendered":"FCS in the New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida Citizens for Science board member David Campbell has been working with New York Times reporter Amy Harmon on a story of hers for quite some time now. Finally, the fruit of the labor is out there for all to see: A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ORANGE PARK, Fla. \u00e2\u20ac\u201d David Campbell switched on the overhead projector and wrote \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Evolution\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the rectangle of light on the screen.<\/p>\n

He scanned the faces of the sophomores in his Biology I class. Many of them, he knew from years of teaching high school in this Jacksonville suburb, had been raised to take the biblical creation story as fact. His gaze rested for a moment on Bryce Haas, a football player who attended the 6 a.m. prayer meetings of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in the school gymnasium.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If I do this wrong,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mr. Campbell remembers thinking on that humid spring morning, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll lose him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

But at the inaugural meeting of the Florida Citizens for Science, which he co-founded in 2005, he vented his frustration. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The kids are getting hurt,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mr. Campbell told teachers and parents. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We need to do something.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

The last question on the test Mr. Campbell passed out a week later asked students to explain two forms of evidence supporting evolutionary change and natural selection.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I refuse to answer,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bryce wrote. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe in this.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just Bryce. Many of the students, Mr. Campbell sensed, were not grasping the basic principles of biological evolution. If he forced them to look at themselves in the evolutionary mirror, he risked alienating them entirely.<\/p>\n

The discovery that a copy of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Evolution Exposed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d published by the creationist organization Answers in Genesis, was circulating among the class did not raise his flagging spirits. The book lists each reference to evolution in the biology textbook Mr. Campbell uses and offers an explanation for why it is wrong.<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

When the bell rang, he knew that he had not convinced Bryce, and perhaps many of the others. But that week, he gave the students an opportunity to answer the questions they had missed on the last test. Grading Bryce\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s paper later in the quiet of his empty classroom, he saw that this time, the question that asked for evidence of evolutionary change had been answered.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Those snippets don’t do the five-internet-pages story justice. Go and read it yourself. It’s a revealing look at the individual and personal aspect of the science\/anti-science battle. Our sincere appreciation goes out to David for putting the time and effort into working with Amy on this story. He really put himself out there for this. Good job!<\/p>\n

For those of you stopping by here via Internet searches because you are looking for a way to contact Dave, feel free to leave a comment here, or send me an e-mail (bhaught(at)flascience(dot)org) and I’ll make sure he gets your message. If you are interested in learning more about the fight over Florida’s science standards, visit our Projects page<\/a>. As the NYT article states, Dave did play a big role in writing those standards and fighting on their behalf. Our main website<\/a> has all sorts of other useful and interesting resources, too. Check it all out.<\/p>\n

[edited to add] The comments on the story at the NYT are so far very, very positive. It’s refreshing to see so many supportive folks! This comment is great:<\/p>\n

I second comment #3. Bless Mr. Campbell. He was my high school biology teacher, and this article only begins to illustrate all the ways in which he is an amazing teacher. He constantly challenges his students to think for themselves, to analyze, and to test hypotheses rather than simply accept things at face value. He was the first teacher who ever taught me how, not what, to think, and Mr. Campbell is the reason I am now a biologist, studying evolutionary biology. Thank you, Mr. Campbell, and all biology teachers like you, who, in teaching evolution well, nurture the natural curiosity in young minds.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d Natalie Wright, Gainesville, FL<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And this one:<\/p>\n

If every classroom had a teacher like David Campbell, our schools would be much better places.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d SKAN, DC<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And this one:<\/p>\n

Mr. Campbell is a true hero. We need more like him.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d Matthew H, Iowa<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida Citizens for Science board member David Campbell has been working with New York Times reporter Amy Harmon on a story of hers for quite some time now. Finally, the fruit of the labor is out there for all to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-be","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":960,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=960","url_meta":{"origin":696,"position":0},"title":"Tonight in New York","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"March 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Florida Citizens for Science board member and biology teacher David Campbell is in New York tonight to talk about the teaching of evolution. Join CFI [Center for Inquiry] to scrutinize the real state of the teaching of evolution in American classrooms-the forbidden \"E\" word not as it is portrayed in\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 6 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 6 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=960#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":712,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=712","url_meta":{"origin":696,"position":1},"title":"Caf\u00c3\u00a9 Scientifique Gainesville report","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"September 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Florida Citizens for Science secretary Mary Bahr provided the following report on the recent Caf\u00c3\u00a9 Scientifique, Gainesville. ------------------------------ We had about 85 people show up for our tours of the Museum fossil hall and the following discussion that Kevin Folta, Joe Meert, and Johnathan Bloch started with their fascinating presentations.\u00c2\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Science Cafes"","block_context":{"text":"Science Cafes","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=19"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":716,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=716","url_meta":{"origin":696,"position":2},"title":"Influence, Spore, blip, Amy, denies","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"September 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"==> Newsweek laments America's fading influence as a leader in science. ==> Florida Citizens for Science's own Joe Meert is quoted in Education Week concerning the computer game Spore. ==> Kim Kendall and Beverly Slough are names familiar to those of us who fought in defense of good science education\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 7 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 7 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=716#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":891,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=891","url_meta":{"origin":696,"position":3},"title":"Insights into Florida science testing","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"February 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"David Campbell is a Florida Citizens for Science board member and was featured in a New York TImes article about the teaching of evolution. Here on this blog I've been posting about a movement to eliminate the 11th grade science FCAT and replace it with end-of-course tests. (see here, here\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 5 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 5 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=891#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1168,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1168","url_meta":{"origin":696,"position":4},"title":"We’re hosting a seminar!","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"February 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Florida Academy of Sciences is hosting its 74th Annual Meeting March 19-20 at Indian River State College, Fort Pierce. As part of that meeting, Florida Citizens for Science is proud to announce we are conducting a seminar: \"Attacks on Science, Science Education and Evolution\" is co-sponsored by the Florida\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":996,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=996","url_meta":{"origin":696,"position":5},"title":"Schools, Science, and the State","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"April 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Florida Citizens for Science board member David Campbell (the teacher who was featured in a New York Times article about the teaching of evolution) will be on a panel discussing evolution in Florida schools April 23. This is part of WJCT's (Jacksonville) First Coast Forum program at 8pm on 89.9\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 5 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 5 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=996#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}