The 2007 Teacher Quest Scholarship Program is bigger and better than ever! This year, the teacher professional development program expanded into more Florida counties and drew a record number of employer participants.

Sponsored by the TRDA, Teacher Quest is a seven-week, paid summer professional development program in which K-12 teachers go to work at select science- and technology-based businesses in Florida. Teachers gain valuable industry knowledge and take it back to the classroom to make math, science and technology studies more exciting and challenging for students.

A total of 85 teachers from around Florida signed up for the program. They hail from 14 Florida counties: Brevard, Broward, Orange, Leon, Pinellas, Seminole, Polk, Sarasota, Lee, Hillsborough, Osceola, Miami-Dade, Duval and Volusia Counties. In 2006, the program drew teachers from 11 counties.

"Teacher Quest has grown geographically over the last year and we are reaching more rural areas of the state," said Diane Matthews, director of The Endeavour Academy, the TRDA's education department. "We have several returning teachers, but the majority of them are new participants, which is also very exciting."

In addition, Matthews said the program recruited more employer participants this year.  The 2007 program features 24 companies and institutions that employ the teachers during the summer. This is almost a 20 percent increase in employer participation in one year.

"We have always had science centers and university research facilities as employer participants in Teacher Quest," Matthews said. "However, this year, we've added some more diverse employers, such as high-tech manufacturing companies and a medical technology company."

The 2007 list of employers includes: American Systems, Corp.; Brevard Zoo; Challenger Learning Center; ConMed Linvatec; .Decimal, Inc.; Delaware North; Florida Institute of Phosphate Research; Florida State University High Magnetic Field Laboratory; Imaginarium; Lowry Park Zoo; Marie Selby Botanical Gardens; Mercury Marine; Miami Metropolitan Zoo (Zoological Society of Florida); Miami Museum of Science & Planetarium; Museum of Science and Industry; Museum of Science and History; Ocean Design, Inc.; Progress Energy; SIFT; Sun Hydraulics Corp.; Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science; The Florida Aquarium; Volusia Soil & Water Conservation District; and Zero Gravity Corp.

Employers receive partial reimbursement to cover their assigned teachers' salaries. The reimbursement funds are generated from sales of The Space Plate (formerly known as the Challenger/Columbia license plate).

The teachers began their seven-week employment assignments during mid-June. Their assignments will end in latter July. On Aug. 3, the TRDA will host a "recognition event" at the University of Central Florida in Orlando to honor the participating teachers and employers of the 2007 program.

The Florida Department of Education launched Teacher Quest in 1989 to address the growing shortage of middle- and high-school teachers in math, science and technology. TRDA partnered with the Department of Education in 1997 to administer the program. Since this time, the program has invested more than $250,000 in statewide teacher professional development. Nearly 1,000 math, science and technology teachers selected from across the state have participated in the Teacher Quest program since 1997. Most participants report a more in-depth knowledge of constantly evolving technologies and feel better equipped to instruct their students.

For more information on participating in next summer's Teacher Quest program, either as a teacher or an employer, visit http://www.theendeavouracademy.com/ or call 866-263-9564.