FDA Food Science Professional Development Program Accepting Applicants

The FDA has a Professional Development Program in Food Safety and Nutrition that can be of great benefit to you and your students. The training (held virtually) is based on the Science and our Food Supply curriculum that was developed under a partnership between the FDA and the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA).

This program provides 40 hours (4 CEUs) of combined online training (via Microsoft Teams) and assignments. Teachers accepted into the program receive an advance shipment of lab supplies that includes the full curriculum and such items as safety glasses, test tubes, parafilm, petri dishes (both empty as well as overnight shipments of prepared medium), and headphones, to ensure that all participants can perform the labs in their homes or schools at the same time as the course instructor.

Highlights of the program include presentations by FDA and USDA Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), and lab instruction conducted by an international food safety instructor. Participants will conclude the program by participating in a small-group project. Individual viewing/writing assignments are designed to be used by teachers in their own classroom instruction.

Teachers complete the program with the expectation that they will teach portions of the curriculum in their classrooms, and hold a “train-the-trainer” in-service workshop for local district teachers (curriculum is sent to the teacher in advance for distribution to his/her participants). It is vital that the participants’ principals be supportive of this program.

Teachers are each provided with a $500 STEM stipend to purchase needed materials to perform the experiments in their classrooms and in their peer workshop. Upon completion of the in-service workshop, participants’ pre- and post-assessments, a final report, and submission of receipts, teachers will receive a final $500 honorarium from FDA.

To view the curriculum, please visit: www.fda.gov/teachsciencewithfood

Program information and online application are available at: www.teachfoodscience.org

Applications are due by May 27, 2022; notification will be made via email on or before June 6, 2022.