Archives Summer 2015

Opening Kick-Off: Class of 2019!

The STEM Center celebrated and welcomed their fourth

freshman class in the Opening Kick-Off, August 15, 2015!
Over 90 new students converged to meet one another, to
meet several of their 2016, 2017 and 2018 classmates, and
to meet several of their STEM Center teachers. The evening
began with ice-breaker activities and chit-chat in the
cafeteria. Students then moved into break-away session to
participate in design challenge activities. Later, they
gathered for Icee Pops and social time in the breezeway.

Design activities required students to work in a collaborative

team to solve design challenges and introduced students to
the concepts of the Design Process. One of the most
popular activities returned this year: How can we build a
table out of six simple sheets of newspaper that will support the weight of 20, 30, 40 textbooks? A new challenge this
year: How do we rescue Willard the Worm from his sinking ship and make sure he makes it into a life raft? Groups had to
decide how to work together, had to get a theory for their solution, had to test their theory, and had to return to drawing
board when their ideas failed. The gondola challenge and the penny raft challenge were two of the other activities.

STEM Students Help with Downtown Bike Race

Over 20 Davie High STEM students volunteered to help with the Crossroads Cycling Classic in
Mocksville on July 30. Students served as course marshals and assisted with set up and tear down.
DASH--Enrichment Trip #5

Thunderstorms and steady rain thwarted the baseball-watching plans of over 50 STEM students on July 28.
Students arrived to a delay-of-game, but they had a good time socializing and helping themselves to a lot of ball
park food! Students laughed, and hung out and talked as they waited for the start of the game. In the end, the
DASH vs. Blue Rocks game was postponed until July 29. Students may exchange their tickets at any future
DASH game.
Fans can exchange tickets from Tuesday's game to any remaining 2015 Dash game at BB&T Ballpark, based on availability. This includes the Dash's final
All-You-Can-Eat Night on Tuesday, August 18. More Info

ASU and Julian Price Park--Enrichment Trip #4

Eighteen STEM students visited the Appalachian Campus July

14. In addition to an admission presentation, students were
addressed by computer science professional, Dr. Tashakkori
who stressed the importance of problem-solving skills and
showed a video about real-world applications in science,
technology, engineering and math. He also stressed that it is
crucial that more women prepare for and enter STEM fields.
Afterward, students walked throughout campus on a tour
lead by an App graduate student where they had the
opportunity to interact with several additional college students
and get different perspectives about college life. Finally, Davie students ate in the campus dining hall.

Mary Ellen Lewis said, "Going into this tour of Appalachian

University, I didn't know what to expect. It was my first college
tour. In all honesty, I thought this college was for more "earthy"
people, but after touring today, I can honestly say that I was
wrong. I think my favorite part of the tour was actually seeing
the campus in general. I got to see how "homey" the town of
Boone was. Appalachian University is a college that I would
seriously consider. Touring it today showed me how safe,
earth-friendly, and modern the campus is. I also saw that
Appalachian University is a great community to be in. With this
being said, I can definitely see myself at App State."

Paige Carter said, "The information that our tour guide gave
about Appalachian really surprised me. I loved how App was
like a community rather than a college. The tight-knit student
population, I feel, is one of App's best characteristics. After the
tour my total outlook on Appalachian changed."

On the return trip, students thought that they would enjoy corn
hole, Frisbee, creek-wading, watermelon and relaxation time in
beautiful Julian Price Memorial Park, but a thunderstorm had
other plans!

Davidson College--Enrichment trip #3

Twelve STEM students visited the town of Davidson and Davidson College July 8. After an informative address
from the Admission Counselor, Davie students were lead on a campus tour by a Davidson sophomore. Students
heard the Admission Counselor describe the experience that this small, private school has to offer. They also
heard her describe what makes a good college essay: "Just tell a story that lets us know who you are. Let your
voice come through."

"I really liked the vast number of opportunities on campus as well as the
small-town community feel. Around 80% of Davidson students study abroad,
which is definitely something that I'm interesting in," said Chelsea Strange.

"My favorite thing of Davidson was the close relationship of the professors and
students. I really like the Honor Code and it allows every one to have some
feeling of trust with people they haven't even meet which is really rare and
nice," said Lauren Coats.

"I think the campus is really pretty ,and I think it's interesting how they
combine majors if they don't have something you're looking for," said Morgan
Bumgarner.

"My favorite thing about the Davidson campus was the fact that there were a
lot of options on majors. There were also a lot of activities that all of the
student on campus can enjoy together. I liked that everybody always had a smile on their face and w
ere ready
to answer
any of the
questions
you had,"
said Katie
Allen.

WFIRM--Enrichment Trip #2
Sixteen STEM Center students spent the day, July 2, learning about science labs,
scaffolds, cells, environmental factors and regenerative medicine in a morning
interactive workshop and an afternoon tour of the labs of Wake Forest Institute of
Regenerative Medicine.

To illustrate the medical concepts that students

would see at the labs, Melanie Stancill had
students layer M&M "cells" on top of icing "growth
factors" on top of a cookie "scaffold." Students
designed a blue jello "matrix" to cover and
regenerate "skin cells" of a red jello "wound." The
group participated in several other activities
including a discussion about the stereotypes we
have about what a scientist looks like.

Lauralynn Ellis said of the morning session, "I

thought it was very interesting
how we modeled the skin graphs to
display how it is applied in real life
situations."

"I thought that learning by

making things with Play Dough and food really helped with the
understanding of the topics. I learned a lot of interesting things
about stem cells and the way 3D printers print," said Ashton Mann.

After lunch in the breezeway, students boarded the bus and headed to
WFIRM where they had a full
presentation by Dr. Harrison about the
developments in and importance of
regenerative medicine. One of the
themes in his presentation was that
scientists and designers in regenerative
medicine have as their goal that a
patient not only survives, but he also
thrives. Students spoke with doctors,
professors, bio-medical engineers,
graduate students, post-docs,
laboratory technicians and
undergraduate interns over the course of the
afternoon.

Jana Yount said, "I loved the trip we had today! It

gave me a new outlook on medicine that we don't
hear much about in the classroom. I enjoyed
listening to all of the speakers! All of them talked with such excitement that
you could definitely tell that they were doing what they loved doing."

The tour included visits into several labs spaces where students saw freezers set
at -85 degrees, 3-D printers, scaffolds for an ear and a urethra, and many other
areas and pieces of equipment. "Physicians and scientists at WFIRM were the
first in the world to engineer laboratory-grown organs that were successfully
implanted into humans."

Greensboro Science Center Enrichment Trip--Enrichment Trip # 1

"Rachel and I learned about the habitat of

dinosaurs, the crystal systems of rocks, and the
aging process of the body. We had a great time
looking at the animals and learning about the
human body!" said
Valentina Roa, one of
the students on the
Science Center tour
June 30.

Nineteen STEM Center

students traveled to
Greensboro to enjoy the
Science Center on the
first enrichment trip of
the summer. The trip
began with a nano-scale journey through the human body in the Omnishere.
The group got a couple unexpected bonus shows including a view of
the summer-time night sky, the planets (including the unique, June 30 placement of Jupiter and Venus), and the
constellations.

Students then had time to explore all of the exhibits including the zoo, the
aquarium, the Bone Zone, and many interactive activities.

The half-day trip culminated with a Subway picnic lunch.

"I enjoyed the museum a lot, but my favorites were the dinosaurs and the
animals outside," said Hailey Molloy.

Cross Curricular Team of Students and Teachers Visits CDC in Atlanta

While most War Eagles were enjoying their

first days of summer lounging at home or on
the beach, one set of Davie students was
continuing an educational study which began
back in November in Michelle Shue's AP
Language class.

On June 14, twenty-nine students and four

teachers from Davie High traveled to Atlanta,
GA to tour the CDCs David Spencer Museum
and participate in a meet-and-greet with the
Ebola fighter with whom they have been
working on a blogging project.

"Seeing David in person was such a surreal

experience said rising senior Hunter McDaniel. After all the hard work our class put into editing his travel blog, it
was so awesome to meet our Ebola fighter."

McDaniel was just one of Michelle Shues AP English Language and

Composition students class who spent months working on editing blog posts
for David Wang, a laboratorian in the Influenza Division of the National
Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC. McDaniel and
several other classmates made the trip to Atlanta to meet Wang and
complete this unique learning experience.

I wanted to go on this trip because reading David's blog made me realize

how lucky we really are here and how little people have in less fortunate
places, rising senior Emily Muchukot said. Meeting David was an amazing
experience that I will never forget. He's the type of person that will end up
making a huge difference in this world with the work he does. Muchukot was
a student in Paula Allens Health Occupations class who read the blog as part
of a study on disease process.

Students in Elizabeth Bustles AP Chemistry and Dr. Georgia Taylors AP

Biology and Anatomy classes joined in reading the blogs, where students had
to opportunity to learn first hand about the Ebola epidemic. Students from each of the four teachers classes were
involved in the trip to Atlanta.

While at the CDC, we were given a tour of the museum by a laboratorian who has worked at the CDC for
nineteen years. His knowledge captivated the students, but it was the time they spent with David after the tour
that was most exciting to everyone, Shue said. David is so excited about what he does, and he sincerely wanted
to encourage our students to strive to take his job one day.

And 2015 Davie graduate Laura Barney is ready. My sophomore year, I went to Florida and I begged my parents
to just drive by the CDC, and they wouldnt, said Barney. Being given the opportunity to
actually go inside and tour the facility was like a dream come true for me.

Wang passed around items he will need for his return visit to Sierra Leone, and he
helped students glove up in the mandatory three sets of gloves. Allen and rising senior
Ralph Palacios each suited up in the gear Wang wears in the hot lab, and Allen jumped
at the chance to bring home one of the head pieces to use in her classes.

In Health Science II last Fall, we focused a lot

on learning the PPE used against the spread
of Ebola and other diseases, Barney said.
When I met someone who actually had to use
extreme precaution, it made that knowledge
more influential and meaningful.

In addition, Wang spoke about the lasting

effects of the Ebola epidemic on the culture of
Sierra Leone. From the victims' children being
left behind to tribal burial practices, Wang explained to students that
fighting the disease is much greater than the work he does in his lab.

I found hearing about the orphanages, and how they really don't have
anything there so sad. These children lost their parents to Ebola and
now no one wants them because they could have been exposed to the
disease. It's so sad to hear, and I can't imagine witnessing it, Muchukot
said.

Allen echoed Muchukots feelings of making a connection. We talk about the real world in our classes everyday,
but being at the CDC, meeting David, and hearing about his upcoming trip to Sierra Leone made everything we
had talked about in class real, Allen said. For me personally, it reignited the need for us all to see the big
picture.

Besides the CDC, students also visited other area attractions including a behind-the-scenes tour at the CNN
Studios, the World of Coke Museum and the Georgia Aquarium. Students also toured the Emory University
campus and the Martin Luther King Jr.
burial site next to Ebenezer Baptist
Church.

It was a great learning experience, and

Im so grateful to have had the opportunity
to go, said rising senior Keri Tatum.

Shue said that while the other stops were

fun and educational, the experience at the
CDC provided the students with a
once-in-a-lifetime lesson.
When we started this project back in November, I had no idea that we were really giving our students an inside
view of a moment in history. These kids will never forget this, Shue said.

And Shue is right. Muchukot clearly got the message.

The trip made me realize that I want to go out and help the less fortunate. Not only here in the US, but in other
places that have been hit hard by something where the people left have nothing and nowhere to call home. I hope
that one day I'll make a difference in this world just like David is doing, Muchukot said.
(see more about the origins of this cross-curriculuar project on the 2014-15 School Year Archive page)