Teaching evolution is a controversial topic that's got educators enrolling in workshops to learn techniques they can bring to the classroom.

Evolution.

It's a touchy topic for educators in the Bible Belt.

"I had friends that actually cut the chapters out of their science books, glued their pages together, skipped over the section," said Gail Jennings, a 7th grade science teacher from Moultrie.

"I've had children bring the Bible into class and when the word evolution was mentioned maybe the first week of school and they hear what we are going over and they say, 'That is wrong! That is wrong,"" said Cynthia Pousman, a high school science teacher from Augusta.

But no matter which side of the evolution fence teachers, students and parents fall on, the State of Georgia closed the book on the controversy, making evolution a curriculum requirement.

For 27 years, it wasn't part of the state mandated Quality Core Curriculum.

In 2004, that changed.

"By putting it in the Georgia Performance Standards its increased its visibility and teachers recognize the importance of addressing it," said Thomas Koballa, Ph.D., a principal investigator for Georgia's Teacher Quality Program.

And for teachers like Gail Jennings, who is guided by her Christian beliefs, teaching evolution is something she is trying to grow into. That's why she enrolled in an evolution workshop being held at VSU this week as part of the Georgia Teacher Quality Program.

"As a teacher I felt ill-equipped because I really hadn't addressed the topic of evolution with students for 15 years. We're learning ways to present evolution that's non-threatening to your faith," Jennings explained.

But all the teachers in attendance agree, believing what science has to say about evolution or believing a higher power had a hand in creation, is a matter of choice.