Contact: Phil Hearn
SALAMANDER UP CLOSE--A hand-held Southern red salamander captured the attention of students and teachers during a recent nature excursion into the woodlands of Jeff Busby State Park in Choctaw County. They were participating in a summer science camp coordinated by Mississippi State's Center for Science Mathematics and Technology. They are (l to r): Cora Straight, a teacher at Starkville's Quad Alternative School Lester Jones, a teacher at Starkville's Armstrong Middle School Hunter Smith of Maben, a rising sixth grader at Henderson School and Michael Wynn and Victor Carr, both rising ninth graders at Starkville High School.
A log-rolling expedition into the woodlands of northeast Mississippi uncovered no snakes--probably not disappointing some--but did expose a Southern red salamander, three-toed box turtle and a few other little critters.
"I'm loving it," 14-year-old Cooper Kennard said during a July 20 nature excursion into Jeff Busby State Park, nicknamed "Little Mountain" by locals to recognize the popular recreational site's geographical status as the "highest point" in Choctaw County.
"I was expecting to be bored, sitting in a classroom all day," Kennard said of his participation in a two-week summer science camp coordinated by Mississippi State's Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology.
"I enjoy coming out here and looking at nature--animals, wildlife and stuff like that," said the exuberant eighth-grade student at Starkville's Armstrong Middle School.
"I've learned a lot too," added one of Kennard's classmates, 13-year-old Ben Bailey, noting he particularly enjoyed earlier water and soil-testing experiments.
Jameisha Evans, an 11-year-old sixth grader at Ackerman Elementary School, said she too was fascinated by scientific demonstrations conducted by biological and environmental experts from the MSU faculty and nearby Red Hills Mine.
"I really liked going to a creek to learn about the water," she said. "They tested it to see if it was polluted and stuff like that. I'm really into science.
"I've learned a lot, but some of it's too much to remember," she confided.
Twenty students and seven teachers from Ackerman, Louisville, Maben, Mathiston, McCool and Starkville--representing several elementary and middle schools-- along with eight graduate and undergraduate students from MSU, took part in the July 12-23 program called Career and Research Exploration for Students and Teachers--or CREST.
Sandra Harpole, director of the MSU center and a physics professor, said the students were exposed to a variety of activities that included geological surveying, weather experiments, water and soil quality testing, and native wildlife demonstrations during the two-week, non-residential camp.
"CREST was designed to develop leadership skills in regional youth while promoting economic development of the area," Harpole explained. "By offering a variety of scientific opportunities on site at the Red Hills Mine (near Ackerman), we believe those participating gain a greater understanding of the role of science in industry and are exposed to the ways that a particular industry contributes to the region's economy.
"Students and teachers are learning academic content and research methods relative to development and utilization of a lignite coal resource--including resource identification, pre-mining, mining and post-mining," she added. "The hands-on research is accompanied by appropriate lectures on ecology, geology and reclamation."
The summer program, in its second year, is funded by a $165,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Personnel from MSU and the Red Hills Mine, owned by Mississippi Lignite Mining Company, provide scientific instruction while alerting the youth to the benefits of obtaining an education and signaling possible career paths.
Giselle Thibaudeau Munn, an MSU associate professor of biological sciences, and Darrel Schmitz, a professor of geosciences, are co-directors of the program.
Formed in 1997, the mine supplies lignite coal to the adjacent Red Hills Power Plant that, in turn, supplies electricity to the Tennessee Valley Authority. Mining officials monitor ground and surface water, soils and vegetation, inspect wetlands and implement erosion control methods to ensure no adverse effects to the environment occur. A comprehensive reclamation program also restores mined areas to their natural condition.
"We try to be good stewards of the land because it's not ours," explained Benson Chow, a Red Hills Mine environmental specialist, pointing out that most of the 5,000 acres utilized for surface mining is leased from Choctaw County.
He said the company and MSU center provide about $1,000 worth of technical equipment--including global positioning satellite technology and a field monitoring kit--to each teacher in the CREST program for use in their individual classrooms.
"Kids today have a lot more technical savvy than we had when we were their age," said Chow, a Greenwood native and 1998 geosciences graduate of MSU. "We stress technology. We want to educate teachers so they can take the information back to their students."
During the two-weeks, students and teachers are organized into teams that are required to make technical presentations during the final day of camp. They also play the roles of landowners, business people, public officials, etc., during mock public hearings on environmental and other issues related to mining. Anna Dill, director of The Learning Center at MSU, provides the guidance and training for those projects.
"They really get into it," said Harpole.
The CREST program makes a special effort to introduce geosciences and research to underrepresented groups. Middle schools identified for participant recruitment have a minority population ranging from 25 to 100 percent. Academic year follow-up occurs through electronic communication among student-teacher teams, project and mine personnel and scientists.
For more information, contact Lori Hill or Debbie Weeks at (662) 325-2922.
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LOCAL EDITORS
Participating teachers in the 2004 CREST program included:
Armstrong Middle School--Cyndi Hogue and Lester Jones, Starkville.
Ackerman Elementary--Janet Alashti of McCool, Carol Ballard of Mathiston, and Angela Dempsey and Lisa Jones, both of Louisville.
Quad Alternative School--Cora Straight, Starkville.
Participating students included:
Armstrong Middle School--Ben Bailey, Miranda Barnes, Katie Berry, Cooper Kennard, Kathryn (K.C.) New and Kelly Truax, all Starkville.
Starkville High School--Victor Carr, Robert Jamerson and Michael Wynn, all Starkville.
Ackerman Elementary--Jameisha Evans, Sissy Jenkins and James Pope, all Ackerman.
Grace Christian School--Whitney Ganann, Louisville.
Ward Stewart School--Michael Gao, Starkville.
Henderson School--Tianqi Gao, Royal McGee, and Jason Zhou, all of Starkville, and Hunter Smith of Maben.
Nanih Waiya Attendance Center--Bria Marshall, Louisville.
Louisville Elementary--Natalie Marshall, Louisville.