About Curt and the Human Disease Project

Curtis Schneider is my name and is what I'm all about. I've been a middle school teacher for the past 28 years and my students have yet to drive me crazy! Well actually, there IS this kid in my 6th period class...

I am married and have a wonderful wife Lisa and two kids, Carly, age 26 and Nathan, age 22. Carly is married to my son-in-law Chris and they both have an MA in Math from San Francisco State. They livein San Franciso! They both work for a company called IODA, putting music online. Check that company out before they go through the roof! Nate is currently living in Mountain View and is working at SuperMicro. We currently reside in San Jose, CA in the wonderful Willow Glen neighborhood.

I actually started my teaching career at Hidden Villa Ranch in Los Altos Hills, California. I was recruited out of San Jose State University (my alma mater) to become a docent and lead groups of elementary school kids around the farm and wilderness. I enjoyed this so much that I quit my job at Orchard Supply Hardware and moved to Hidden Villa. I worked there for 6 years, running the American Youth Hostel and the Hidden Villa Summer Camp programs and working for the Hidden Villa Environmental Project. During this time I changed my major and decided to pursue a teaching career. Wise move!!

My first job was in the Almaden Valley area of San Jose at Bret Harte Junior High. I worked there for 1 1/2 years before getting laid off due to enrollment cutbacks in the San Jose Unified School District. That ended up being a BIG break for me. I was lucky to land a job at Sunnyvale Junior High (now Sunnyvale Middle School) the following September. After 20 great years, I left SMS for Egan Intermediate School in Los Altos. Egan prides itself on high quality academics and a "no child left behind" attitude. It is indeed my pleasure to work at such a fine school, and I am in my 8th year there already....WOW!

I started the Human Disease Project in the early '90's. It has grown, changed and evolved over these past few years, due in part to the feedback of other teachers who have started to teach it. Several things have happened recently to make this project an ideal one for Middle and High school aged students:

• The emergence of the Internet. As the Internet has grown and students have access to it, their ability to find useful information about their disease has grown proportionately. Students can find the most up-to-date information about diseases and in no time they are talking like doctors.
• It is interdisciplinary and these days that's the big buzz word! If you team teach, all of the various departments, especially math and English, can get involved and play a part in this project.
• It's personal. What I mean by that is students will many times write the report about themselves or a close family member or neighbor. Students end up sharing some pretty personal stuff with their classmates. Some of these stories can be downright gut-wrenching.
• Many teachers are tired of the standard "Science Fair" type projects. They many times have little creativity and high redundancy. I was told in October of 1997 that a whole school district had dropped the Science Fair for their 7th graders in lieu of the Human Disease Project. I was flabbergasted and very pleasantly surprised as I had no idea! I get emails from teachers all over the country that are using the HDP, of course modifying it to suit their needs. It pleases me that this project has spread to other schools and teachers.

In the fall of 1999 Curt's Human Disease Website won an Internet Innovator Award from National Semiconductor. The best part was that my school was awarded $20,000 to use for Internet related training and equipment.

I would love to hear from any teachers who are doing similar projects or who have suggestions and ideas for other information to put on this web site. I hope you find Curt's Human Disease Website useful and informative! In 2007 I shared the HDP in a short class at the California Science Teachers Association convention in Long Beach, and much to my delight, the participants seemed to find this website and the HDP in general a useful idea. I hope that you do to.

Send me email  if you have any comments, suggestions or questions!!