The Community Outreach and Education program (COEP) has focused on scientific, environmental and health education to populations in Central Texas. The groups targeted include K-12 students and teachers, school administrators and nurses, health professionals as well as the general public. The four communication goals are: 1) to serve as a community resource for environmental health and science education; 2) to alert the public to CRED research findings as well as improve public understanding of environmental health; 3) to open and develop new avenues of two-way communication to respond to community concerns about environmental health issues; and 4) to develop and implement evaluations of the effectiveness of COEP activities. The Center serves as a resource for teachers both by developing and distributing educational material and by providing K-12 teacher training. High school students and undergraduates are given opportunities to participate in laboratory research, a web site and educators newsletter are also available. Public understanding of environmental health issues is being increased through articles in area newspapers, a web site and newsletter. Public communication efforts are also being implemented in partnership with the Cancer Information Service (CIS) at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. CRED is also developing partnerships with the NIEHS Centers in Galveston and College Station, Texas. The existing activities will be continued and expanded during the next funding period. Significant new education initiatives are the development of curricula based on the environment and a cancer module for high school students in advanced placement biology classes. This will be a joint effort of the COEP, teachers, administrators and curriculum coordinators in Central Texas school districts. A one day workshop on environmental health is planned for allied health professionals. A new children's section of the web site will be developed. The site will be designed to enhance skill development and provide behavior learning activities. Other planned web site improvements are an interactive question board, Ask a Scientist, and a page of Frequently Asked Questions. A series of community forums will also increase involvement between the community and the Center. Evaluation and assessment of all COEP activities will continue. One new activity is an assessment to identify gaps in health education content.
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