Among the many qualifications it takes to land a job as Science and Technology Writer for the Volcano, I think the one that sealed the deal was my “Sophomore Science Student of the Year” award. ... Yeah, that’s still on the ol’ resume.
Since college, I’ve mostly been an arts and humanities kind of guy--film, theater, novels, etc. But before that, I was quite the science nerd.
So maybe that’s why I’m so glad to see the birth of the Tacoma School District’s “Science and Math Institute” (SAMI).
The subject: the natural world. The classroom: Point Defiance Park. Thanks to partnerships with MetroParks (which runs the zoo), UWT, UPS, Northwest Trek and the United States Geological Survey, students will be a part of a very unusual school, one focused on science, math, and environmental research.
Students will have a longer school day than most high schools--8:00 am to 4:00 pm--and an unusual school year. Like many colleges, SAMI will have a January Term where students take one intensive class for 3 weeks, with opportunities for specialized research or even travel abroad.
There will also be a strong focus on community service, where students can take what they’ve learned and contribute back to the region. SAMI will be so committed to this that students will be able to earn a varsity letter in community service.
As I learned more about the program at one of the school’s information nights, I couldn’t help but think back to the Marine Chemistry program I was enrolled in at Bellarmine Prep here in Tacoma.
The four-year program was both academic and extra-curricular. We were in school for a week every summer, learning statistical analysis one year and learning to SCUBA dive the next. Every student conducted a senior year research project.
For my project, I tested the water quality of Snake Lake and China Lake. Somehow my teacher, Ron Nilsen, swung things so that I got the opportunity to present my research to the staff at the Snake Lake Nature Center. Looking back, it’s hard to know if the staff was humoring me or if I actually had something of value to tell them. But at the time ... I gotta say, I was pretty proud of that.
Nilsen is still running the Marine Chemistry program at Bellarmine. I followed up with him to see how Marine Chemistry has been doing since I graduated. I was pretty impressed, and the potential of SAMI became even more apparent.
Right now, Bellarmine students are doing red tide research in Quartermaster Harbor--a 2006 graduate won first in the nation at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium for her red tide work there. Other students are creating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps of the Titlow marine sanctuary--last year two students presented professionally at a GIS conference.
We should not underestimate the positive effect applied scientific research can have on high school students. In addition to a love of the sciences, students will emerge with a deeper understanding of our natural world, particularly the forested Point Defiance Park and the beautiful waters of the Puget Sound.
Tomorrow is the groundbreaking for Urban Waters, a research center dedicated to studying the health of the Sound. Could Urban Waters be another partner for SAMI and Bellarmine’s Marine Chemistry program? With them guiding the work, and hundreds of interested high school students helping, our region might become a powerhouse of marine research.
The pieces are there. Here’s hoping they start coming together ...
ABOUT HAZARDOUS BUSINESS: Erik Emery Hanberg's Hazardous Business column - which looks at the business of technology and the environment in Tacoma and the South Sound, and how it will shape our future- appears every other Tuesday on Spew. For previous Hazardous Business columns, click here.
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