A workshop at Avon Old Farms School, Avon, CT, was conducted on January 3, 2006. This was a pilot effort to incorporate basic principles of reward system function into classroom teaching. It consisted of a lecture, small working groups, and a set of recommendations for teachers.

Pilot staff worked with Wake County, North Carolina, Schools to develop an overlay for the 9th grade health curriculum. Permission was obtained from Wake County Schools and the Sanderson High School principal. During spring, 2006, ten focus groups were conducted with teachers about how to teach the brain curriculum. This pilot established the Brain Development Project at Duke, which is a collaboration of the Center for Child and Family Policy with the Duke Medical Center. The mission of the project is: 1) to identify significant neuroscience research that impacts kids and those who care for them; 2) translate that research into language that is appropriate for non-neuroscientists; 3) distribute this information by a number of mechanisms, including the internet, as well as by developing programs for parents, teachers, and students.