The Libraries’ SPIRIT Program (School Partnerships in Research and Information Technology), an outreach program sponsored in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation, last year reached over 1,100 students from over 40 different intermediate, junior high and high school classrooms in Southern California. Students participated in customized UCI library research sessions that enriched their regular math and science curriculum with information literacy concepts. SPIRIT joins UCI faculty and research librarians with school teachers and students from Santa Ana, Compton and west side Newport school districts in a unique effort to teach life-long learning skills.

A student & teacher from Compton High School participage in a SPIRIT class at the Langson Library

Robert Reyes, a teacher from Compton’s Whaley Intermediate School, recently brought his sixth grade class to UCI to study the organization of math-oriented Websites on the internet. "The instructors are courteous, eager and motivating. This is a great resource for our young people," said Mr. Reyes. Other classes have studied a diverse range of subjects from chemistry and astronomy to highly specific research topics such as the biology of desert fauna and modern African American dance legends. “One of the goals of SPIRIT is to combine library research with other hands-on learning activities,” said Tom Babayan, SPIRIT Program Coordinator. “Recently we’ve collaborated with the Department of Physics and Astronomy to reinforce key concepts learned through library research with a visit to UCI’s astronomical observatory. It’s this collaboration between local schools and universities that enables SPIRIT to help improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement.” SPIRIT has also collaborated with UCI’s Department of Chemistry, Department of Dance and the university’s academic counselors. In addition to bringing students to UCI, SPIRIT also sponsors the Compton Teacher’s Literary Institute, a program that endeavors to encourage and equip high school teachers to incorporate information literacy concepts in their classrooms.

SPIRIT is funded in part through FOCUS (Faculty Outreach Collaborations Uniting Scientists, Students and Schools), a grant provided by the National Science Foundation as part of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind educational reform. FOCUS aims to improve mathematics and science achievement in three high-need California school districts by uniting the efforts of mathematics, science, education and research library faculty and staff with educators from local community colleges and educational support agencies and school districts.

For more information about SPIRIT and/or FOCUS, contact Tom Babayan at (949) 824-9826 or tbabayan@uci.edu.