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Spring Issue 2008
Committee on K–12 Education leads Outreach Efforts in Seattle
The Committee on K–12 Education organized a public outreach program for schools across the state of Washington in conjunction with the SOT Annual Meeting and provided outreach materials as part of the SOT Resource Pavilion in the ToxExpo™ Skybridge. Vanessa A. Fitsanakis was Chair of the committee in 2007–2008.
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Students. |
Students from six classrooms around Washington State were involved in the Toxicologists Educating and Mentoring Students (TEAMS) video-conference symposium during the Annual Meeting. Participants gave presentations to one another and to an audience at the Seattle Hyatt Amphitheater through the Washington K–20 education videoconference network. Two of the local classes' made their presentations live from the Hyatt. A virtual poster session in the afternoon showcased other student presentations that had been recorded and submitted on CD. Among the topics the students addressed were artificial sweeteners, caffeine, PCBs, energy drinks, sunscreens, and lead in cosmetics. A panel of toxicologists discussed the videoconference presentations with the students and provided live feedback. Each class had the opportunity to work with a toxicologist mentor prior to the event. Katie Sprugel chaired the event, and she was assisted by Jon Sharpe (teacher coordinator), Dan Arrieta (mentor coordinator), and Frank Koegler (technical coordinator).
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SOT members were a review panel for the presentations. |
Others on the local organizing committee included Dianne Botta, Steven G. Gilbert, India Carlson, Tao Wang, Reitha Weeks, Jay Young, Nancy Sedlacek, Gilda Wheeler, and Tim McFaul. The SOT panelists for the videoconference included Cynthia A. Afshari, Dianne Botta, Vanessa A. Fitsanakis, Maureen R. Gwinn, George C.T. Jiang, Robert I. Krieger, Linda G. Roberts, and William S. Utley. Toxicologists who served as volunteer mentors to the classes were Herve N. Lebrec, Chunmei Ji, Karen Riveles, Jeffrey S. Tepper, Jane M. Gunther, Peter J. Korytko, Mark R. Fielden, Dorothy B. Colagiovanni, and Teresa Wegesser. Many other SOT members helped review and comment on the prerecorded student presentations.
More information about the project can be found at the TEAMS section of the SOT Web site.
Preparation for the K–12 Outreach exhibit was done by Nicole Soucy and Deepa Rao, and Clara Thomas and Keith Erikson provided coordination on-site. Many SOT volunteers assisted in discussing the variety of materials that were on exhibit with the passers-by. Approximately 550 meeting attendees stopped at the booth and learned about items that could assist them with career presentations, science days, and activities for their children’s classrooms or when invited to schools. Resources for grades K–12 were available, including the Toxicology Enrichment Materials booklet and career posters.
As part of the reorganization for alignment with the SOT Strategic Plan, the Committee on K–12 Education is one of the four committees merged to form the new Communications Committee.
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