Special Ed
I gave a talk and hands-on engineering demonstration at "Meet a Scientist/Engineer Day" at Aberdeen High School yesterday. And I was mightily impressed.
Here was a whole class of high school students who enjoyed science. Who could read and understand a chemical equation. Who cheerfully volunteered to weigh out 80 grams of plaster, measure a meter of string, etc. Who aggressively competed to make and test ceramic composite "armor" plates, in order to win some of my spare solar cells.
It should be noted that the event was conceived and run by the "Science and Math Academy", an accelerated enrichment program at the school. If I'd walked into a standard science class, I doubt that things would have gone anywhere near as well.
There is, I think, a need for this kind of specialized part-time program, where geeky kids can find friends and mentors who don't look down on intellectual pursuits, and competition from fellow students that stretches them to achieve their full potential. When I left, I felt really good about high school education here in Harford County, and about the Army base here that supports this kind of effort.
It's also worth noting in passing that the winning team at the competition, whose plaster/string/paper armor withstood the impact of a heavy iron bar dropped more than two feet, was composed of three black kids.
Here was a whole class of high school students who enjoyed science. Who could read and understand a chemical equation. Who cheerfully volunteered to weigh out 80 grams of plaster, measure a meter of string, etc. Who aggressively competed to make and test ceramic composite "armor" plates, in order to win some of my spare solar cells.
It should be noted that the event was conceived and run by the "Science and Math Academy", an accelerated enrichment program at the school. If I'd walked into a standard science class, I doubt that things would have gone anywhere near as well.
There is, I think, a need for this kind of specialized part-time program, where geeky kids can find friends and mentors who don't look down on intellectual pursuits, and competition from fellow students that stretches them to achieve their full potential. When I left, I felt really good about high school education here in Harford County, and about the Army base here that supports this kind of effort.
It's also worth noting in passing that the winning team at the competition, whose plaster/string/paper armor withstood the impact of a heavy iron bar dropped more than two feet, was composed of three black kids.