NC BioNetwork visits Robeson Community College
Robeson Community College and the NC BioNetwork hosted students from Littlefield Middle school today.
As part of the life science, training initiative of the North Carolina Community College System, the NC BioNetwork helps bring science to life in practical ways for students so they can better relate to the fundamentals and visualize how science is used.
“We want to help Community Colleges develop robust outreach programs,” stated Bethany Kenyon, the director of Programs and STEM Outreach. “We bring resources with us to share and to teach.”
Students today learned about forensics and how science in that field can be connected to careers and programs at RCC.
“This is our middle school outreach day,” stated Kenyon. “The forensics lab can be connected to careers as forensics technicians, DNA analysis – health path or forensics path, as chemists, or medical lab techs.”
For students, it was one of the best field trips that they have been on.
“I learned how to turn ink into separate colors,” stated Ian Mesino, who hopes to become a 7th-grade math teacher because he loves math and enjoys teaching others what he knows.
Lucas Thoman learned the same techniques during the chromatography lab, “We learned how to measure the separation and see whose RF level matched to which pen.”
Thoman hopes to become a meteorologist one day for WBTW and study atmospheric science and earth science, mainly because as he simply said, “I like clouds.”
Being able to measure footprints and analyze how to determine chromatography was fun for Sliha Jackson.
“I’m interested in science,” Jackson said, who plans on attending RCC after she finishes high school.
“I want to be here; I want to be at RCC,” stated Jackson. “I want to become an electrician.”
Getting students interested, making science fun, and connecting the activities to real-life careers was what today was all about.
“It’s just part of our outreach for the community,” stated Jennifer Brown, a science instructor at RCC. “We are trying to get students interested in science, in STEM.”
Brown says that today’s event was a collaborative effort between RCC’s Math and Science Division and the NC BioNetwork.
“The NC BioNetwork provides all the materials and all the training,” Brown said. “We are so thankful for their partnership.”
