HudsonAlpha is once again partnering with Sci-Quest to put education in the hands of Madison County students, thanks to a grant from Venturi Brighter Day Employee Fund. The $6,500 grant will be used to purchase microscopes for several mobile labs. “We couldn’t be more pleased with this grant from Venturi,” said Madelene Loftin, an education specialist with the educational outreach team. “The microscope is the quintessential tool of biology and many young students equate using a scope to 'doing science'.”
The educational outreach team will train Sci-Quest staff to support lab experiments and will travel with the mobile units to perform science experiments inside schools. These microscopes are specifically outfitted to allow teachers and instructors to understand what students are seeing, as a means to better explain the science.
The microscopes will do more than travel as they will be housed inside the Sci-Quest Hands-On Science Center. In the summer months, the microscopes will be used by middle school students participating in HudsonAlpha camps, as well as with the GTAC academy for Alabama life science teachers.
“These equipment will allow educators at both HudsonAlpha and Sci-Quest to engage students ranging from early elementary grades through high school in the study of the microscopic world,” Loftin said.
The partnership between Sci-Quest and HudsonAlpha serves more than 30 Title I elementary and high schools in the greater Madison County area. It’s estimated that each microscope will be in the hands of 100 children each year.