HuSCI returned to Denny International Middle School in June of 2023 for our second in-person visit. The event brought together 17 volunteers, including undergraduate and graduate students affiliated with the University of Washington, four of whom were committee members. Our volunteers underwent in-person training before the visit to familiarize themselves with the activities, rehearse speaking to the students, and meet other like-minded volunteers.
Prefacing HuSCI’s visit to Denny, we organized a “Meet-A-Scientist” event, where three graduate students from the University of Washington, including one of our committee members, shared their experiences, knowledge, and personal journeys with approximately 500 curious middle schoolers. The event's highlight was a Q&A session, where the students had the opportunity to directly interact with our volunteers and ask them different questions regarding their research, their personal motivation, or anything they were interested in. Our volunteers received a lot of engagement and many intriguing questions.
During the visit, our volunteers briefly introduced themselves and their work before helping introduce the concepts of evolution and natural selection to approximately 270 students. Each volunteer was assigned to work with a group of 3-5 students, facilitating an interactive game that explains the concept of natural selection coupled with a worksheet to reinforce the new information. The students showed lots of enthusiasm while playing the game and were able to proficiently apply the concepts taught. HuSCI received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the students and our correspondents at the school:
"The ability to have more adults in the room making connections was super valuable"
“I had fun and want to see them again”
“It was really cool. Many interesting conversations”
“It was very fun and productive”
HuSCI is extremely proud to have hosted this event and to have had the opportunity to share our deep passion for science with the next generation of inquisitive minds. Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to our volunteers and all the organizers at Denny International Middle School as well as the Seattle Public School District. We plan to continue hosting and participating in similar events in order to ignite a passion for science and help make science education and careers more accessible and achievable to these students.
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