Yearbook photo

Yearbook entry: Linda J. Klopfenstein

My Pathways into Science Web site – take a look!

Current projects:  Master Gardener intern and part-time paid Associate for the Department of  the Interior working with children and their teachers coming to the C & O Canal for STEM activities. I play tennis. Chuck and I love traveling and doing things with our sons and our grandchildren (see pictures on Charles J. Rieger page).  Yes, we were married in 1968 and have now been married for 48 years.

Linda’s “Nana” logo

Brief history:

I focused on the special education population after studying at Purdue and Stanford universities. After teaching in California schools, Chuck and I moved to the East Coast to be close to our parents and family.  I got a  position at The American University where I supervised the student teaching of all of its special education teacher candidates and developed its first course in mainstreaming. I also served as a member of the Montgomery County, MD Superintendent’s Education Advisory Committee.

I took my message of access to appropriate education to the Maryland legislature. I served as a legislative aide in the Maryland legislature to learn how laws could be changed. In 1980, I pushed through, with the support of the Gifted and Talented Association, a bill that allowed high school students to leave their high school campus for college courses when they had exhausted the courses at their schools (especially in math and science). I received a commendation from the Maryland governor.

After 9/11, I came back to education after being in sales and marketing for 25 years.  I accepted a position with the Fairfax County (VA) Public Schools where as a resource teacher in a school with children coming from over 75 countries, I helped develop outside partnerships for my high-risk science students. The high point was partnering with a California university on “A Study of the Effect of Biomass on the Development of Trees” during the height of the cicada emergence. I involved the students in getting grants for community service projects and in getting publicity in newspapers and on TV. I also collaborated on the highly respected Fairfax County Public Schools elementary and middle school science curriculum.

Starting in 2006, I began developing my Pathways into Science® book series because I saw a need to get very young children and their families engaged in science in order to develop life-long interests. I also saw that people of all ages with literacy issues could access science topics by simple text which gradually increases in complexity with Internet links of audio, video and interactive media that let them dig deeper. Many of the links I have made are in both English and Spanish. The goal is to make the children and families advocates for finding solutions for our society through science, technology, math, and engineering.

I am an active advocate on the STEM Coalition, a member of the National Science Teachers Association and have served as a consultant at the Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences and for the Standards of Learning tests for Pennsylvania.

Photos:  See pictures of Chuck and our children and grandchildren on his page.

Linda at the C&O Canal’s “Park after Dark” evening, Sep 2015

Linda & Chuck’s home in Potomac MD with flowers that we love. (Hopefully the deer will leave some. It is a struggle.)