MUNCIE, Ind. - Elementary school students aren’t too young to learn about technology, Ball State University educators believe.

That’s why at Burris Laboratory School, located on Ball State’s campus, technology lessons are integrated into all facets of the elementary curriculum.

That effort earned Burris its second Elementary Program Excellence Award from the Technology Educators of Indiana, recognizing the state’s leading elementary school technology education program. Burris also received the award in 1995 and was not eligible for the award again until this year.

It was the second recent award for Ball State technology education. Earlier this month, the International Technology Education Association honored Ball State’s technology teacher education program as outstanding.

James Kirkwood, professor of industry and technology who teaches at Burris, said all Burris elementary teachers deserve credit for the award of excellence.

"All our activities start with the classroom teacher," Kirkwood said. "The classroom teachers tell me what their goals are and I tell them what my goals are. We then work together to merge the two into technology lessons."

Earlier this year, Kirkwood worked with students of Joyce Carmichael, Danette Morrell, Christina Coelho and Sandra Murray on a survey of safety issues around the school. Students learned how to measure speeds of passing cars, arched traffic codes and constructed a scale model of the Burris neighborhood.

Meanwhile, students of Jolena Sutherland explored electronic circuit boards in an integrated activity of animal habitats. Earlier, Sandra Murray’s students also studied how explorers from Leif Ericsson and Christopher Columbus to the space shuttle astronauts were aided by technology.

In recent projects, Theresa Greenwood encouraged young entrepreneurs in technology and students of Martha Kendrick built structures for Habitat for Humanity.

Several Burris students are currently involved in a project involving computer drawing and a laser cutter in Ball State’s Applied Technology Building. The results will be made known on Mother’s Day.

(Note to Editors: For more information about this story, contact James Kirkwood at (765) 285-5647 or jkirkwood@bsu.edu.)