This fall in Dallas, global “doctors in training” are wielding their own scalpels and learning about viruses by swabbing their own hands and growing bacteria. These doctors in training play a humanitarian role as well - every class they take purchases a class for a student in a developing country. Together, they share findings and discuss current global issues. Dallas students communicate and Skype with students in Haiti, India and Pakistan to gain real world experience.
Even more impressive, this exciting project starts with 8-12 year olds.
While Parish Episcopal School is the first school in the United States to partner with global educator Level Up Village, these programs for young would-be physicians are available to all 3rd through 6th grade students in the Dallas area through the ParishEXTEND after-school program.
As a founding partner, Parish will offer four of Level Up Village’s global STEM-based courses including Global Doctors in Training and Global Scientists in Training. Each course includes hands on scientific exploration and the chance to collaborate with students at a partner school in developing countries. This partnership will encourage student participation in STEM while sharing those same learning opportunities with students across the globe who wouldn't otherwise have access to them.
In the Global Doctors in Training course, students learn about human body systems and disease through dissections of a frog, grasshopper, earthworm, snake, shark and more. During this after-school opportunity, students join a local physician on an exploration of the real life application of learning about biology and the human body. By working with students in developing countries, students get a first-hand look at other cultures and the different challenges they face.
The Global Scientists in Training course is all about clean water initiatives. Nearly one billion people on our planet lack access to clean water, and this class arms young people with the experience and knowledge to be a part of the solution to this crisis. This class explores properties of water, and the model that no drop of water is a new drop, but has always been in our water cycle. Students explore the special things that water can do at the molecular level using hands-on experiments and 3D kits. They explore our global relationship with water through interactions with their partner school students, and move from the theoretical to the applicable, constructing a working aquifer to better understand how we get, use and sometimes pollute ground water. These young scientists delve into an exploration of the innovations that are part of the solution to our water crisis, creating two different kinds of water filters as part of that process.
“This program really resonates with our young students, and makes an impact more than a typical STEM course would,” said Patty Knodel, director of ParishEXTEND. “They connect with children from a very different background and notice how the innovative atmosphere at Parish can help globally.”
Parish is excited to bring after-school classes to students in the Dallas community, sharing their state of the art facilities and resources to provide rich programs that incorporate STEM with global and humanitarian components.
Registration for fall semester Level Up Village courses is now available on the ParishEXTEND website, www.parishepiscopal.org/extend or contact Patty Knodel at (972) 852-8808.