Science 8 students view summer school as an enrichment opportunity

August 13, 2010

Do you know what the terms "Brownian motion," "MEMS," and "quantum tunneling" mean? How about quarks, transistors and nanometers - do you know what they are? Can you speak intelligently about the space elevator and what it might mean for future generations? If you're like most adults, these terms leave you a bit perplexed, or possibly even clueless. But students in Mrs. Randall's Science 8 summer school class can define all of these terms and more. And the kicker is, most of them didn't need to learn about them to meet any requirements for school. They took Science 8 this summer as an enrichment opportunity to enhance their regular curriculum.

"Most people think of summer school as courses kids have to take to pass a class, and to some extent that's true," said Mrs. Randall. "But the majority of this group of kids is here because they want to be and I find that so impressive."

"We work very hard to ensure that we have a wide range of offerings in our summer school program," said Superintendent Dr. Paul Padalino. "Summer school isn't just for finishing things up- we encourage our students who want to prepare and get ahead for the next school year to attend as well, like these ambitious students have done."

Students Kaila DeLoriea, Ken MacGilfrey, Natalie Migliore, Mickayla Nadeau and Keivon Wood learned about the periodic table of elements, atomic structure, how to use an electron scanning microscope and an overview of nanotechnology throughout the six week course. They culminated their study with an in-depth research project and PowerPoint presentation covering topics from robotic surgery to nanomedicine. (You can view .pdf files of  these presentations by clicking on the students names above.)

The students were very excited by their experiences in the class and said that they were definitely more interested in persuing a future career in science and technology after taking this course. Keivon Wood and Mickayla Nadeau are both recent transfers to Watervliet going into eighth grade and are looking forward to expanding their knowledge of nanotechnology in Science 8 this year. Watervliet is the only school district in the capital region that offers a middle school curriculum in nanoscience.

Normally nanoscience would not be covered during a summer course, but since the students in the class were looking for a challenge, Randall decided to go for it and expand the regular curriculum to cover a wider range of topics.

"It makes me proud to be a teacher at Watervliet. I have students that make me a better teacher because they are hungry for knowledge above and beyond what I am required to teach," said Randall.