School of Dentistry sponsors discussion to reawaken outreach
Participants aim to recruit youths for careers in science
By Jennifer K. Morita
Daily Bruin Staff
Promoting hands-on science programs and outreach into the
community, a team of educators presented a model for university
participation in elementary school science education to UCLA
faculty Friday morning.
Sponsored by UCLA’s School of Dentistry, 25 faculty members
along with seven participants and leaders of the Center to Advance
Precollege Science Education at USC, showed up to discuss ideas for
stimulating the interests of elementary, middle and high school
students in science careers.
"We’re trying to get ideas by finding out what they did at USC,"
said Valerie Watkins-White, who works in the dental school’s
admissions office. "We’re looking for new ideas and new ways to
help us improve our recruitment."
According to Watkins-White, Friday’s presentation was an effort
to stimulate discussion on campus and re-establish the UCLA Science
Pipeline Committee, a group which dealt with recruitment.
"We looked at all the different issues that different
departments dealt with in recruitment to see what’s going on
campus-wide," said Watkins-White. "It was to help make recruitment
better."
To get the wheels spinning on re-establishing a pipeline
committee, Watkins-White invited the science education group’s
founder Lois Slavkin to present their model.
"It’s an effort to create dialogue among a diverse group,"
Slavkin said. "We want to begin in the elementary schools in order
to cultivate students who are science literate."
Although the Center to Advance Precollege Science Education
targets inner-city, lower-income students – particularly minority
students – the recent UC Regents’ decision to end affirmative
action policies within the university system may not apply to what
Watkins-White is trying to do, she said.
Watkins-White explained that the recruitment of
under-represented students is not what she is primarily concerned
with.
"This is to help all students," Watkins-White said. "If you
spark an interest in elementary school students, hopefully it will
be carried on through junior high, high school and to the
university level.
"The idea is to start their interest in science early and
hopefully the student will want a career in science," Watkins-White
said, adding that the idea is to reach younger students rather than
under-represented students.
But in giving their presentations, the program organizers
stressed the importance of reaching into the community –
particularly lower-income, inner-city communities such as the area
surrounding Rosemont Elementary School, where the group’s program
called PRAXIS is used to stimulate students’ interests in
science.
"Many parents are bound to a neighborhood by lack of
transportation, lack of education and lack of a primary, mainstream
language," said Maria Sesma Sooey, coordinator of the Family Health
Project.
Sooey added that one of the most important things to engage
parents with is handouts and booklets written in the language they
speak.
"For most of these parents, books are a luxury," Sooey said.
"They are engaged in survival living, putting a roof over their
heads and shoes on their feet. They can’t think of books. But the
kids must have access to books."
Coloring books, information packets and booklets written in
Spanish containing important information on health, dental care and
simple, kitchen science experiments are made available to parents
through the program.
The Center to Advance Precollege Science Education participants
also emphasized the role universities can play.
"I covet the wealth of human resources and information resources
that (students) have at the university," Sooey said. "This is a
very important opportunity for a real-life experience, where
students can translate academic theory into practice and make it
very, very real."Comments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu