David Smith was our speaker last week.  Admiration was obvious in President John Duvall's voice as he introduced one of our own Rotarians having recently returned from his third year travels to Senegal.  David Smith and his wife Jean, spend a great deal of their time and treasure pursuing the goal of increasing economic growth through improved science education. 
 
Peter Jeshofnig, Professor Emeritus of Science at the Colorado Mountain College, states it this way, "Improved science instruction is expected to elevate the critical thinking skills of all students, and to contribute to the national wealth by increasing the science skills of the work force".   By working to increase the economic growth in these Muslim countries with very low Gross National Income, our efforts combat radical extremism. Mr. Smith illustrated this concept with a slide:
 
Part of the work that the Smith's due each year is to visit the schools that they conducted training sessions for the science teachers the previous year.  By doing this, they can measure the amount of actual good their efforts are creating for those teachers and therefore their students.  In the Saint Louis, their assessment exceeded all expectations!  Virtually, the cupboard of supplies they had provided the previous trip - were all used up.
 
 
Science teachers, who had a solid grasp of the actual scientific process, now can be provided with text books and simple tools and experiments to use in their teaching.  Things like spectrometers to measure different light sources and microscopes for viewing samples can make all the difference in teaching young minds.
Linda Carlson, Rotary Club of Canyon City, accompanied the Smith's this year.  As a fluent speaker of five different languages, and a science educator herself, she greatly enhanced the teams efforts!