Duke School of Medicine Awarded Funds for Pre-College Science Education

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University School of Medicine, Durham Public Schools and the North Carolina School of Science and Math will join forces to bolster science education for at-risk and under-represented minority middle school students and their teachers, thanks to a $538,000 four-year grant from Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The new program, dubbed BOOST for Building Opportunities and Overtures in Science and Technology, reaches out to both teachers and students, said Brenda Armstrong, M.D., associate dean and director of admissions for the Duke School of Medicine and program director for the HHMI grant. BOOST focuses on enhancing students' interest in and aptitude for science during the transition from elementary to middle school, a time when students' interest in science often wanes, Armstrong said.

The program will target Forest View Elementary, Lakewood Elementary, Githens Middle and Rogers-Herr Middle schools for student participation and recruit teachers system-wide for the teacher development component, Armstrong said.

BOOST will introduce students to biomedical research and science applications through inquiry-based classroom activities; independent research projects aided by medical and graduate student mentors; field trips to Duke Medical Center's biomedical laboratories, and a week-long summer program called Summer Science Immersion. The program will also provide teachers the tools they need to engage students in science, Armstrong said.

"This grant is so special because it really demonstrates the power of partnerships among Duke, Durham Public Schools and the North Carolina School of Science and Math," Armstrong said. "It will help keep students focused on science so that once they move from the program in the summer, they will continue to find opportunities to maintain their contact with many aspects of science and its applications."

Of 115 applying institutions, Duke was one of 19 to receive an award under HHMI's Precollege Science Education Initiative, an initiative aimed at interesting young people in science and improving science education for pre-kindergarten to 12th-grade students.

Ten teachers and 20 students will participate in BOOST. The grant includes funds for such practical necessities as student transportation for summer participation, activities involving local research laboratories and mentoring by graduate and professional student "science coaches." The program will pay for substitute teachers during the year, which will allow regular teachers to take advantage of enriching and educational activities for curricular development and implementation.

"The program is designed to remove obstacles for teachers and students to participate and to create excitement and energy for science," Armstrong said. "Our ultimate aim is to establish a program to inspire these students to make positive contributions in science as scientists and doctors."