Elijah Robins, a fourth-grader at Mary Munford Elementary School, presented a science curriculum to the Yale National Initiative earlier this school year based on a Yale University-based science curriculum unit he learned under the instruction of Mary Munford teacher Valerie Schwartz, “There’s No “Space” Like Home.”

“I saw early in the school year that Elijah was very comfortable speaking in front of others and had a real presence about him,” she said.

The initiative “focuses on developing teachers’ content knowledge in the subjects they teach and on low-socioeconomic school districts.”

Mr. Robins is on a panel of four students representing English, science and math curricula being taught in K-12 schools across the country. Ms. Schwartz has represented Richmond as a Yale fellow in the program for several years, and coordinates the student panel. Mr. Robins is the first of her students to present on a unit she has instructed.

Richmond Public Schools is one of 11 school districts across the country selected to participate in the program. Teachers are required to apply to participate every year.