CLEVELAND — The doctors and scientists of tomorrow are helping prepare their successors right now in Cleveland.
Some students at Case Western Reserve University are getting ready to graduate in less than two weeks, and it turns out they have also been going back to middle school!
The sounds of excitement spill out of Mr. Jontony's middle school classroom at Daniel E. Morgan School in Cleveland.
His is one of two rooms where students in grades 5-8 are participating in an interactive STEM workshop hosted by Case students who volunteer with the local chapter of the national nonprofit called Learn to Be.
"For the students here, it means a lot because we don't normally get to see this," said Tye'Yawna Thompson, 8th grader at Daniel E. Morgan.
At one table, half a dozen students were making lemon batteries.
Lemon juice is an electrolyte solution, which means it produces a low voltage.
It is a fun way to test electric circuits and is among half a dozen stations the students visited.
"It's an amazing opportunity for them," said Mr. Nicholas Jontony.
The middle school students also tested different densities and metals to see how they react to a plasma ball.
"This means a lot because I love science," smiled Tye'Yawna.
It is not just science, technology, engineering, and math making the kids light up, but also the time spent learning from college students.
"We are a club at Case, and our job is to tackle education inequity," said Benjamin Hafey, a senior at Case and one of nearly 200 Learn to Be volunteers.
The goal is to help the younger students learn to be our next generation of scientists and health professionals, as well as learn about their overall wellness.
"Inspire them and show the students how cool science really is," said Hafey.
Jontony said the students are curious about college, so it’s a perfect pairing.
"And hearing about their experiences, the different fields they're in and what they're going to do once they graduate, and getting to ask them questions about their careers," he described.
He said it's also showing the students what's possible through the volunteers' diverse backgrounds, including English as a second language.
"And we actually had some Learn to Be students who spoke fluent Spanish from different countries in South America and Latin America, and they were able to communicate with them," he recalled. "To see their faces light up, it just means the world."
College students interning at NASA Glenn brought an out-of-this-world experience with virtual reality simulating space travel and exploring an advanced hybrid electric concept aircraft of the future.
"Education has been an important thing my entire life,” said Hafey.
He said sharing that love of learning is what he and the other Learn to Be volunteers hope to impart on the students, and what the biology senior plans to continue doing by pursuing medicine
"It's also education just in another way," smiled Hafey.
The club has hosted four free STEM workshops at Daniel E. Morgan this school year. They're always new and different.
Each visit, they're creating connections and perhaps sparking a lifelong career, like for Tye’Yawna.
"I enjoy doing my mechanical stuff, and I want to be a robotic engineer," she said.
Tye’Yawna is excited to continue growing her love of science as a freshman next year at MC2 STEM School in Cleveland.
