The Santa Fe Science Initiative (SFSI) is a non-profit organization that strives to ‘nurture the art of doing science and promote scientific literacy.’ Based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, our organization helps teachers make science fun and helps students learn to think critically and scientifically. 

Inspired by national models, SFSI was created in 2001 to enhance science education by providing year-round professional development through teacher training/mentoring and materials support for elementary classrooms. Our program encourages the use of inquiry-based science, which is a method of teaching that enables both teachers and students to acquire valuable skills through active interaction, collaboration, and problem-solving rather than passive reading of textbooks.  This concept is central to the National Science Education Standards (NSES), which assert that ‘learning science is something students do, not something that is done to them.
(National Research Council 1996).

SFSI trains retired teachers to be mentors in elementary school classrooms and supports the use of inquiry-based kits and science literacy activities in order to provide comprehensive science instruction in grades (K-6). Currently, SFSI reaches over 850 students in Santa Fe.