It’s almost 80 degrees outside and a group of middle schoolers are inside enthusiastically studying epidemics and developing plans to prevent them from growing into pandemics.
At the Alexander Dawson School in Lafayette, about 30 rising seventh-graders and eighth-graders are developing epidemic response plans for businesses and an educational hygiene program for third- graders.
“Students rise or fall to what is expected of them,” said the school’s executive director, Kevin Cloud. “These students can do real things that can have a real effect on the community.”
In its second year, the five-week summer academy is sponsored by the Alexander Dawson Foundation.
It is open to public school students from the Denver and Boulder areas who are admitted after being evaluated in areas such as grades, test scores and an essay.
The kids are taught by instructors brought in for the program, which blends science with corporate problem-solving strategies and skills.
The students develop and represent their ideas using a technique called “graphic recording,” facilitated by a professional recorder who usually works with large corporations.
While a few students stand drawing and taking notes on a huge white poster taped to the wall, other students talk through their ideas and tell the recorders what to add and where to link concepts.
The end result is an illustration of a “Problem Tree” detailing why third-graders get sick and a “Solution Tree” showing how to educate them on better hygiene practices.
The Western States Employers Council, a Denver human-resource and employment-law consulting group, met with the students to discuss creating a workplace epidemic response plan.
“I loved the fact that they appreciate the simple issues of using sanitization lotion and washing hands because that’s what you hear in elementary school,” said Barbara Thomp son, executive vice president of the council.
“They also took it to a higher level to understand that germs can wipe out a workforce and cause issues at home because the mom or dad can’t go to work,” Thompson said.
On Friday, the students will exhibit their work at the ATLAS building on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder from noon to 2 p.m, and they will present their emergency-response plan for businesses and the hygiene education program for elementary school students.
The presentation will use iPads in an interactive display showing how and at what rate different diseases spread.
The students created mathematical models to illustrate the dispersion. During the first half of the program, they studied the science, math and social implications of diseases, while the second half was dedicated to working on their projects.
“I realized diseases are really powerful,” said Andrea Kim, 12, who wants to be a cancer researcher. “And even though they are so small, they can do a lot of harm.”
Sarah Horn: 303-954-1638 or shorn@denverpost.com
If you go:
When: Friday, July 9
Cost: Free
Where: ATLAS building on the CU-Boulder campus
Time: Noon to 2 p.m.
