And when it's possible to get a microscopist-volunteer into the classroom to help present the material, much can be accomplished. The availability of volunteers will encourage hesitant teachers to use microscopy. Microscopist-volunteers will take the enthusiasm generated by the manual content down many lines of inquiry, to be determined by the needs of the classes and the skills of the volunteers. The main problem faced by other scientific societies that have begun outreach programs has been national support of training, both for teachers and volunteers. There now are hundreds of them, all over the country.
Geographic coverage is still spotty, but the numbers are growing rapidly.
GEMS Associates can help MSA's local societies organize programs, and in areas that aren't served by participating local societies they can invite individual microscopist-volunteers to attend GEMS workshops and then help them find a teacher to work with. An Arizona program has begin in Tucson, and the New England society has started in the Boston area. You'll find an address list for these programs further on in this site.