Science, Rap Combine For Music Lesson In Chemistry
Under a disco whirl of lights and with the boom-boom of bass in the background, North Central High School students learned about the intricacies of the periodic table.
Science guy Bill Nye, meet Marky Mark.
The strange marriage of chemistry and hip-hop culture got a warm reception this week as an educational road show funded by Dow Chemical Company rolled into Spokane.
“They danced, they sung … it was live,” said junior Mike Lewis.
At an all-school assembly, performers rapped about the scientific method and on a mock interview TV program the Vicki Lake Show - “Rush Trimbaugh” and “Dr. Bluth” argued about chemical compounds.
In a quiz show skit, Jim Slavicek was named “the king of chemistry.” But you could say Slavicek cheated. He’s a chemistry teacher.
With each correct answer, his opponents, sophomore Jermain Hackaday and junior Brandy Marshall, had more and more brightly-colored plastic balls dumped into their phonebooth-sized cubicles. By the end of the game, Hackaday’s beaker-shaped booth was overflowing.
“This is great. They see the lights, the flash and see that (chemistry) can be fun,” said Slavicek.
The road show, featuring five Hollywood pros, was at least as much style as substance. The material covered was equivalent to the first chapter of sophomore chemistry, Slavicek said.
But the students responded to the fast-moving, MTV-style format. They cheered when a Barney doll was blown up on the overhead TV screens and clapped along when dancers dressed like the Village People gave the scientific symbols for chemicals.
The show slowed down at times to give substantial details about robotic technology or molecular compounds. All the information presented was approved by the American Chemical Society.
Even if students didn’t fully digest the information, teacher Donna Huck said the show will be a useful instructional tool. Teachers set aside time after the assembly to answer students’ questions about ionic bonds or identifying chemical mixtures.
Just don’t ask them to identify the rap songs.
Fire house at Audubon
The Spokane Fire Department’s annual fire prevention presentation at Audubon Elementary had a bit more significance this year.
Audubon student Roxie Wienmuller died last New Year’s Day in a fire a few blocks from the school. The shock of her death - and the school’s lingering grief - has caused principal Dick Stannard to make fire safety a more important issue.
He asked the fire department to keep its Fire Safety House, a mobile home redesigned to look like a residence, at Audubon for a few extra hours so parents could tour the house with their children. The Fire Safety House was at Audubon Wednesday.
Normally, just third grade classes get fire prevention instruction. The house remained after school at Audubon from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. for all students and their parents.
Other Audubon students also know first-hand the deadly force of fire. The parents and brother and sister of three Russian immigrants who are students at Audubon were killed in a Bellingham fire last spring.
Olena and Ivan Solodyankin escaped the house fire. Seven months later, they are still afraid of smoke, even from a barbeque.
“They still remember that night in their memory,” said Yelena Solodyankin, their aunt and lingual assistant at Audubon.
Helping the hungry
While Congress debates cutting funding for free and reduced lunches, Rogers High School student Mike McLaughlin is starting a lunch program of his own.
The Rogers ASB treasurer was passing his purple McDonalds employee hat in the halls Wednesday, rounding up $4 or $5 for “a guy who looked hungry.”
When a teacher reminded McLaughlin the government gave free or reduced lunch vouchers, he offered a bit of real world pragmatism.
“Some are ashamed to even bring in that little paper. Some people would rather go hungry,” said McLaughlin.
Indian Trail open house
Indian Trail Elementary parents can see what their fundraising efforts have reaped at an open house tonight at 6:30 p.m.
The school is still short of its goal of one computer per class. But over the summer, the school bought several CD-ROM programs, including an atlas program which links maps with background information on a country’s economy, politics and history, with money from fundraisers and the school district.
The Indian Trail PTA is organizing a walk-a-thon fundraiser Oct. 6 from 3 to 6 p.m. at the elementary school.
“We like what we have, but we sure would love more,” said first-grade teacher Chris Kusske.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MEMO: Education Notebook is a regular feature of the North Side Voice. If you have news about an interesting program or activity at a North Side school or about the achievements of North Side students, teachers or school staff, please let us know. Write: Education Notebook, North Side Voice, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Call: 459-5484. Fax: 459-5482.