Hands-on Hanford (continued)
WHERE WE ARE NOW
• WSU students create a buzz about Hanford amongst Tri-City youth Working with Jeff Holmes, an English instructor at the Tri-
Cities branch of Washington State University (WSU), we tasked his 48 technical communication students with the goal of reaching high school and college students through their method of choice. Usually when students are given more control over the direction of their project, their interest level increases and so does the creativity of their solutions. These students didn’t disappoint, single-handedly informing over 600 young people in the Tri-Cities about Hanford. Four of the eight groups opted to present Hanford
Washington State University students at Hanford High School.
information in history and science classes at four local high schools, many of them contacting teachers they’d had before. In all, they presented to 14 classes, playing Jeopardy-style games and giving away informative hand-outs, vitrified marbles, and WSU and Ecology promotional items. Another group took a risk by holding a public presentation
about the various roles of Hanford contractors and the types of people they employ. Knowing the success of their project depended upon attendance at their event, they offered free pizza afterward and extra credit for Hanford High students who stayed throughout. Their sign-in sheet, which was only available to attendees as they exited, had 51 names on it. The remaining three groups sought to reach young
minds through the Internet.
HanfordLearning.com includes historical and cleanup information with quizzes to test users’ comprehension, video interviews with Tri-Party Agency representatives, and resources for teachers and others interested in learning more about Hanford. This group’s phenomenal work also creates an opportunity for other students to maintain and grow this website. The B Reactor Hanford Facebook group scored when the
reactor’s former historical researcher joined and started posting trivia questions. They deserved the bump based on all they did to bring their membership to 80 people. (Note: It took six months to get Ecology’s Hanford Education & Outreach Facebook page to 70 people, and, because of this group, we’re now up to 100!) This dedicated team talked to friends, visited the CREHST Museum and shot informative videos to upload, walked Richland’s streets with signs advertising gift card raffles for people joining their group and “liking” our page, and impressed the B Reactor staff. The icing on the cake: 23 lucky members were offered a special tour of the B Reactor.
CLEARING 2011
The last group created the original, animated video “What’s
In Hanford’s Backyard?”, overviewing Hanford history and cleanup, focusing on why it matters to young people. Their process included researching the issues, writing a detailed script including the narrator’s lines and the accompanying drawings, recording the voice-over, drawing the animations, and finally editing it all into one, fabulous finished movie. Next step: Going viral.
These students have far exceeded the course goals and my
expectations, navigating difficult rhetorical situations in writing and in real-time, communicating about extremely technical subjects while making them understandable to their audience. They’ve become more skilled at collaboration, document design, public speaking, project management, and plain ol’ problem solving. And, did I mention that they reached over 600 other students with less than a month of planning?!
NO TIME FOR SERVICE
LEARNING? OTHER WAYS TO INCLUDE HANFORD
Many K-12 teachers are busy with acronyms of their own.
EALRs and GLEs, WASLs turned MSPs and HSPEs. It makes my head spin as much as Hanford lingo used to. Understandably, not everyone has time, or perhaps the right class, for SL, college instructors included. Teachers can start small and see where it takes the class. Then, as connections between the required curriculum and Hanford become clearer, project design may not seem daunting. Our four-member outreach team, often supplemented by
technical experts, is available to visit classrooms and community groups throughout the Northwest. We have two groundwater models, water quality testing kits, a variety of presentations that we tailor as needed, and fun games and activities for fifth grade through college. The following stories are examples of how we’ve used these tools in classrooms.
• McGee Elementary 5th graders practice civics
while learning about ecosystems and pollution A stack
of letters from 50 fifth graders at James McGee Elementary in Pasco arrived for me at work one day. They’d been studying ecosystems, conservation and pollution, and they wanted answers about Hanford. So, I visited Andria Palomarez and Kristine Kopf’s
www.clearingmagazine.org/online
Students at McGee Elementary School engaged in the “Build Your Own Watershed” activity.
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