A student at the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky has been recognized among over 10,000 middle and high school students in the DuPont Challenge Science Essay Competition.
Sarah Schrader, a second-year student from Bowling Green, was one of 54 students recognized in the 2010 installment of the competition.
Schrader received an Honorable Mention in the Senior Division of the competition and will be awarded with a $200 U.S. savings bond and a certificate.
The DuPont Challenge Science Essay Competition annually invites students from the seventh through twelfth grades to submit their best written essays of 1,000 words or less to compete for cash and travel prizes. Essays can be written on any topic of the students’ choosing within science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Schrader’s essay stemmed from her research work through the Howard Hughes Medical institutes’ Genome Discovery and Exploration Program under the guidance of Drs. Rodney King and Claire Rinehart of the WKU Department of Biology. Using what she had learned through her own bacteriophage research in the past year as a student at the Gatton Academy and WKU, Schrader methodically laid out the possibilities of bacteriophages being used as cures for diseases and viruses after completion of future study and research.
“With a little research, we can easily harness their incredible power into effective, inexpensive, and side-effect free cures,” Schrader penned in her essay. “Who knows? Within a few years, patients may very well come home from the doctor’s office not with a bottle of antibiotics, but instead with a prescription for a phage.”
Schrader credits the research experiences she had in her first year as a Gatton Academy student for her success in the Dupont Challenge Science Essay Competition.
“Before I began my research last year, I didn’t even know what a bacteriophage was,” Schrader said. “My research as a part of the Genome Discovery and Exploration Course introduced me to what they were and how they worked, and furthermore sparked my interest in their unique properties. Since I already knew a lot about bacteriophage from the course, I was comfortable with the material I presented in my essay.”
This summer, Schrader is continuing bacteriophage research under the guidance of Dr. King in the WKU Biotechnology Center.
For more information, contact Derick Strode at (270) 745-3167.
Today marks a unique celebration for a little known figure in history and science: Ada Lovelace.
Ada Lovelace was born in 1815. Lovelace was one of the world’s first computer programmers, and one of the first people to see computers as more than just a machine for doing sums. She wrote programs for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, a general-purpose computing machine, despite the fact that it was never built. She also wrote the very first description of a computer and of software.
Even though her accomplishments are almost two centuries old, history has often lost sight of the countless women who have contributed to the discoveries and discourse that mark some of the greatest achievements in human thought.
Somewhere around fifty years ago, the closest relationship many people observed between women and technology was the vacuum cleaner. It has often been lamented that STEM subjects (science, technology, mathematics, and engineering) are male-dominated fields that are unwelcoming to women. When talking about the Academy to people across the state, I often hear the assumption that we have more male students in our program than females or that there must be way more young men who apply to the program than women. Of course our program is home to sixty female and female students each year.
Perhaps more interesting is the fact that our applicant pool is extremely balanced in terms of male and female applicants, with each previous year fielding applications from more young women than men.
Those 120 students selected to attend the Gatton Academy are pretty lucky to study under and learn from outstanding female educators and professionals. In preparation for writing this article, Tim and I sat in his office listing off the female faculty members who daily deliver engaging lectures, sponsor students in their labs, involve them in their own pursuits, and serve as mentors for our developing young scholars.
Today, we celebrate the legacy of Ada Lovelace by showing our appreciation for women in STEM and the young women who will one day lead in those fields. Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of blogging to draw attention to the achievements of women in technology and science. Over the last fifty hours, over 2000 individuals from across the world have shared stories about their favorite heroines, mentors, and pioneers. In celebration of Ada Lovelace Day, I asked several female faculty members to weigh in on the role of women in STEM.
Certainly one of the greatest challenges ahead is getting more young women interested in math and science from an early age. This past weekend, Ogden College hosted it’s Girls in Science Day, an event that was featured on the front page of the Sunday edition of the Bowling Green Daily News.
Dr. Uda Ziegler, a professor of computer science at WKU, related some of the major issues that face educators and professionals in cultivating interest in these fields: the examples of STEM (robots, the moon landing, Star Wars, etc.) are geared toward stereotypical male interests; the lack of portrayal of successful women in media in STEM fields; that young women are often more critical of their accomplishments and, as a consequence, often decide they are not “cut out” for STEM; and a substantial attrition of female interest in STEM between grades five and twelve. As these young women enter college and are on the cusp of professional life, they have to juggle the concept of family and perceived social norms.
As Dr. Ziegler so keenly notes, the challenges are many. Dr. Stacy Wilson, a professor of engineering at WKU, added that generating interest requires a balance to “help young women understand that there is great potential for them to have meaningful careers in the STEM disciplines. However, it is also important to equip them with the skills they need to be successful.”
In many ways, though, the key to increasing female interest in STEM is to cultivate an interest in these subjects in all students, noted Dr. Cheryl Davis, a professor of biology. “We must do a better job of teaching science and math to all children,” she said, “especially at the elementary and middle school levels.”
Some of the greatest examples of high-level learning in math and science are found each year in the Intel Science Talent Search. High school students from across the country demonstrate that innovation is not constrained to the future or advanced degrees. Young women and men are already shaping the discourse that will be important in fashioning the role of America in STEM this century.
In Saturday’s New York Times, columnist Thomas Friedman, a friend of STEM and author of such books as The World is Flat, shared his experiences at this year’s awards ceremony. His passion for these subjects is clear. One passage from the column struck me as quite powerful:
Seriously, ESPN or MTV should broadcast the Intel finals live. All of the 40 finalists are introduced, with little stories about their lives and aspirations. Then the winners of the nine best projects are announced. And finally, with great drama, the overall winner of the $100,000 award for the best project of the 40 is identified. This year it was Erika Alden DeBenedictis of New Mexico for developing a software navigation system that would enable spacecraft to more efficiently “travel through the solar system.” After her name was called, she was swarmed by her fellow competitor-geeks.
Young women like Erika are the future of STEM. At the Gatton Academy, we’re happy to help provide female and male students with the experiences and momentum to change the world through research, inquiry, and innovation in science and math.
I think Ada would be proud of the work we’re doing, our outstanding mentors, and the infinite possibilities ahead.
WKU’s annual Girls in Science Day will be held Saturday (March 20).
The event is an opportunity for girls in grades 4-7 to meet with leading scientists at WKU, ask questions and participate in activities involving science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The all-day event begins at 8 a.m. with registration in the Thompson Complex Central Wing lobby followed at 8:30 with an introduction by Observatory Education Scientist Rachel Campbell in Snell Hall Auditorium.
Between 9 a.m. and 11:45 a.m., girls will participate in three classes at various locations in Ogden College of Science and Engineering. They can choose from 12 classes including the life of a bee keeper, volcanoes, seeing the tricks behind optical illusions and building your own lunar rover.
The lunar rover class will include an interactive demonstration of a lunar excavator being constructed for a NASA robot competition by the WKU Department of Engineering’s “Lunabotics” Team.
The students will have lunch at noon in Snell Hall Auditorium. A Chemistry Magic Show (which is open to the students’ parents) will begin at 1:15 in Snell Hall Auditorium to conclude the day’s events.
For more information, contact Rachel Campbell at (270) 745-5940.
by Corey Alderdice, Assistant Director, Admissions and Public Relations
Like our students, we never shy away from a challenge at the Gatton Academy.
When opportunities arise, we do our best to stay on the cutting edge. In my last post, I shared with you information about our Gatton to Go mobile phone app. Not too long after that post, Education Week–one of the premiere periodicals for US education news and commentary–spotlighted the Academy (membership required) as one of six schools representative of using mobile technology.
Cool, huh?
About a month ago, President Obama announced, as part of the Race to the Top initiative, that he would select one high school for which he would deliver the Commencement address later this Spring.
The contest relies on students and administrators working together to celebrate the exciting things taking place at their school:
The application’s four essay questions focus on demonstrating how the school is helping prepare students to meet the President’s 2020 goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. Applications will be judged based on the school’s performance and dedication to providing students an excellent education that will prepare them to graduate ready for college and career choices. Each question must be answered in full to qualify and data that substantiates each answer is strongly encouraged.
Looking at the Obama administration’s initiatives, we think the Gatton Academy is exemplary of what twenty-first century education can look like. Nontraditional and innovative learning environments, an emphasis on STEM subjects, reaching geographically, ethnically, and socially diverse student populations, and the assurance of post-secondary matriculation are certainly indicators that the Gatton Academy is an “Atypical High School.”
I’d like to take a moment to thank the students who were vital to the application process. Our Academy Avatars provided valuable insight in sharing their experiences as Academy students as the essays took shape. The students in the video below spent an afternoon just before Spring Break relating what makes the Academy so unique. Our students’ comments in print and video certainly make me proud of how they have embraced this experience. Finally, a special thank to Ami Karlage for helping me pull it all together and share our administrative data and responses that supplements the information provided by students.
Six finalists will be selected. From there, the public will vote for the top three. In the end, the White House and Department of Education will select the singular school that will receive this special honor. We’ll certainly keep you up-to-date as the competition progresses.
Until then, keep your fingers crossed and check out the student video and responses to the four essay questions.
1. Describe what makes your school unique. Discuss academic opportunities, community engagement activities, school culture, or other activities/policies/programming your school has in place that you believe to be the most compelling in convincing the President to choose your school for his inaugural high school commencement speech. (500 words or less)
As students of the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, we’re proud to say that we believe our school is unlike any other in the country. We, along with our administration, have adopted the phrase “Atypical High School” to describe the living/learning environment at Kentucky’s only state-sponsored, residential high school for students interested in advanced careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
On a personal level, we feel honored that the state has invested in our individual academic futures. The Gatton Academy partners with over three hundred high schools around the state to meet the needs of their high-ability students. By combining the most important aspects of high school and collegiate learning environments, we have the best of both experiences.
The culture of the Academy is based on students who take pride in learning and embrace “smart” as something other than a four-letter-word. Our learning ceiling has been removed: we can embrace the academic challenges for which we’re ready through an unlimited supply of college classes. We’re daily given the chance to excel and reach our potential.
Our student body comes from a variety of diverse backgrounds. Since the program’s opening in August 2007, Academy students have represented eighty-seven of Kentucky’s one hundred twenty counties. Our school allows students from all social and economic environments to participate in advanced learning opportunities. The student from Appalachia or a small farming community can have access to same advanced instruction, labs, and resources commonly found only in urban areas.
With that in mind, we realize that the Commonwealth’s investment in our future requires giving back, both now and in the future. Because tuition, housing, and meals are provided at no cost to our families, it is our personal priority to give back to our communities across the state. Each Academy graduate averages twenty-four hours of community service. We share our love of science, seek to help other gifted young people, and do what we can to help lead the state to a better quality of life. Our passion for math and science is matched only by our desire to truly change the world.
The advanced STEM careers we’re pursuing will one day lead to a better state, nation, and world. Already, we’re engaged in cutting-edge research; genetic breakthroughs, alternative energies, saving endangered species—all of these subjects and more are part of our daily lives. We’re not just listening to the conversation, we’re contributing to it. Now, more than ever, both Kentucky and the United States need a well-trained and ambitious workforce that is ready to contribute to STEM fields. If we hope to retain our status as a global leader, students like us need to cultivate our passion for science and math. We’re excited and proud that the Gatton Academy allows us to accomplish that and so much more.
2. Describe how your school encourages personal responsibility and engages students. (200 words or less)
We attend the Academy because we want to be both personally and academically challenged in school. That we choose to risk our 4.0 grade point averages and commit to spending the necessary time and effort studying–often not necessary in some of our home school—highlight the desire of our study body to embrace the infinite possibilities ahead.
Because the Academy is a residential program, every part of our daily lives is a lesson in personal maturity and responsibility. Though there are many wonderful staff members who guide us through our challenges, we are responsible for getting up and going to class each morning. We make the time to study and prepare for class. Most of all, we very quickly learn how to say three sometimes difficult words: I need help.
In addition to our academic responsibilities, we also learn how to be responsible members of the community. Living together at Schneider Hall is a constant reminder that other members of the community deserve our respect. Each day we make the choice to live harmoniously with one another and to take into account the needs of those around us.
3. Describe specific steps taken by your school to prepare all students to graduate ready for a college or a career. (200 words or less)
While many high school students across the country take college-equivalent courses, over half of our peers in Kentucky graduate needing remedial classes in order to be ready to face the rigor of university study. By contrast, every class we take is for college credit and, at the age of sixteen, we have already begun to develop the diligence, effort, passion, and study habits to be successful in a college setting.
Not only is it an expectation, it is a reality that 100% of Academy graduates go on to attend a four-year college. Every student at the Academy works toward this goal constantly. This expectation is not set solely by the Academy staff: it is reinforced by our peers. We challenge each other while championing our friend’s successes.
Much could be said about the academic preparation that students receive, but what’s really important is the social and emotional lessons learned that makes transitioning to life in “real college” that much easier. Universities are excited about attracting Academy graduates because they know that we are mature, responsible leaders with experience in a collegiate community. WKU, the University of Louisville, and the University of Kentucky have established guaranteed scholarships for Academy graduates.
4. Describe specific steps taken by your school to promote academic excellence. (200 words or less)
Though our school has a curriculum that builds on state requirements and advanced STEM content, what is truly remarkable is that we are directed to pursue the subjects that interest us the most. In choosing classes, we select the challenge for which we are ready. Organic chemistry and discrete mathematics—coursework designed for college juniors and seniors—are common class selections for Academy students.
At the Academy, school is not something that lasts eight hours each day. With the combined living/learning environment, we take our classroom experiences back with us to the residence hall. Learning doesn’t stop just because we’re not in class. Because classes are so demanding and rigorous, the Academy has created support systems to help us succeed.
At the beginning of our time at the Academy, we receive coaching in how to learn and work at a collegiate level, including reading strategies, organizational skills, and note-taking. Throughout the year, we have quiet study hours each evening that provides us with an opportunity to work with our peers and with tutors and other staff. Moreover, through our Academy seminar series and service-learning projects, we expand our learning beyond the classroom, becoming better community members and leaders.
Gatton Academy students participated in the 2010 Regional FBLA competition held on the WKU campus. In all, 9 students brought home trophies from the event. In this video blog, the guys discuss why business is a perfect compliment to advanced STEM learning.
NASA astronaut and WKU alum Col. Terry Wilcutt hosted a Q&A with Academy students. Topics included space, water conservation, international partnerships and climate change. (photos by Clinton Lewis/WKU)
Academy Student and Staff had the opportunity to discuss space, STEM, and innovation in a small-group setting.
Even though the space shuttle program has only four missions left and the U.S. space program is facing an uncertain budgetary future, NASA astronaut Terry Wilcutt urged students at the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky to keep reaching for the stars.
The seemingly impossible challenge of missions to the moon or Mars “takes the best the country has to offer,” Wilcutt said. “That’s you.”
Wilcutt visited with Gatton students Anthony Bombik (Boone ’11), Kaitlyn Oliver (Muhlenberg ’10), Tejas Sangoi (Daviess ’11), and Michael Phillips (Marshall ’11).
In the morning session with Gatton students and an afternoon session with WKU students, Wilcutt said one key to working for NASA or becoming an astronaut is an undergraduate degree in math, science, engineering or other technical fields. But the most important thing is simply to fill out the NASA job application.
“The number one reason qualified people don’t make it is they don’t apply,” said Wilcutt, a Russellville native and 1974 WKU graduate. “Most people in the astronaut office applied more than once. They had a dream and refused to let go of it.”
Wilcutt taught high school math in Louisville before joining the U.S. Marine Corps in 1976 and earning his wings in 1978. In 1986, Wilcutt was selected to attend the U.S Naval Test Pilot School and was selected by NASA in 1990 and became an astronaut in 1991.
“For all means, have the nerve to apply,” he said. “If this is your dream, you’ve got to give NASA a chance to say yes.”
Wilcutt was the pilot on two space shuttle flights in 1994 and 1996 and the mission commander on flights in 1998 and 2000. The retired Marine Corps colonel now serves as director of Safety & Mission Assurance at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Wilcutt has “mixed feelings” as the space shuttle program winds down. “They’re going to miss it,” he said.
Astronaut Col. Terry Wilcutt is a native of Russelville and a 1974 graduate of WKU.
Next up for the space program is “game-changing technology” that would take humans back to the moon or to Mars, he said. But President Obama and Congress must agree on the NASA budget and other space program issues, Wilcutt said.
“Now that the president has laid out his vision, it’s up to us at NASA to go out and do it,” he said.
The NASA budget is just one-half of 1 percent of the U.S. budget and has shown its benefits in medical, environmental and scientific research, exploration, international cooperation and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education among others, Wilcutt said.
“We’re not really an expense,” he said. “We’re an investment.”
Wilcutt said the best part of working for NASA is “the people you work with and the access to information” on topics like black holes, dark energy, cancer research, astrophysics and more.
“Every single day there something interesting coming through our office,” he said. “It’s like being a kid in the candy store if you have intellectual curiosity. No matter what you’re interested in, at NASA you’ll find the latest and greatest.”
