by Alex Plana, MS19
The South Side Science Scholars program (S4) aims to expose third and fourth grade students to a variety of scientific topics in the hopes of inspiring these young scholars to pursue further science training in the future. This year, S4 was expanded to a new campus: the Dulles School of Excellence on 63rd Street and Martin Luther King Drive, less than a ten-minute drive from the University of Chicago campus.
Each week, first year Pritzker students Michael Harries, Diboro Kanabolo, Alex Plana, and Matthew Present presented three short lessons to the students at Dulles. Topics included nutrition, earth science, electricity, astronomy, health careers, and weather. The team was even able to work together with Pritzker's Adolescent Substance Abuse Program (ASAP) to bring real human organs for the students to learn about and touch.
The year culminated in a field trip to the University of Chicago campus and an award ceremony for the Dulles students in a BSLC lecture hall. Each student was given a personalized award and a bag of UChicago goodies to take home with them. The S4 team hopes to continue working with this group of students over the summer with field trips to the Museum of Science and Industry and other cultural sites.