High School students teach their science teachers for the day
(Provincial, AB) Friday August 12, 2005... Forty five grade 11 students will switch roles with their teachers today. High school students around Alberta will spend the day teaching their science teachers all about their research projects at the Heritage Youth Researcher Summer (HYRS) program's open house.
At the University of Alberta, Frank Maddock High School student Ciera Darragh along with her research supervisor from the Department of Psychology, Dr. Chris Sturdy, have been investigating neural pathways involved in songbird perception. Ciera will have the opportunity to switch roles with her high school teacher, Joy Harrison, and become the educator - explaining her Summer research project.
At the University of Calgary, Brooks Composite High School student Jordan Woehr, along with his mentor Dr. Richard Frayne, have been investigating Alzheimer's Disease using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the hopes of improving treatments for patients suffering from this condition. Jordan will have the opportunity to switch roles with his high school teacher, Mr. Roger Cowan, and become the educator - teaching him about his summer project.
As part of the six week HYRS program, forty five grade 11 students working at the Universities of Alberta, Calgary, and Lethbridge will present the research they've embarked upon this summer to their high school science teachers. They will also tour labs, take part in research activities, review a poster session in which the students will profile their work, and learn the latest in research from presentations by university researchers.
The six-week HYRS Program, developed and funded by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR), introduces some of Alberta's brightest high school students to the research world, giving them the chance to gain hands-on laboratory experience under the guidance of top Heritage researchers.
| What: | Media opportunity to interview: HYRS Students and their research mentors and high school teachers | |
| When: | Friday, August 12, 2005 (U of A) Wednesday, August 17, 2005 (U of C) |
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| Time: | 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM * | |
| Where: | Call for Locations |
* Please call Dwayne Brunner, AHFMR Communications Coordinator, at (780) 966-1518 for more information.
Backgrounder
- HYRS stands for Heritage Youth Researcher Summer Program and is funded and managed by the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR).
- HYRS offers 45 exceptional Grade 11 students from all over the province a summer job conducting hands-on research in the lab or facility of a Heritage or other university researcher.
- To apply students must have at least an 85% average, have completed core science subjects, have two teacher references and a community reference, and write an essay about research.
- This is the sixth year of HYRS, which is offered at three campuses for six weeks each summer.
- The University of Alberta and University of Calgary will each have 20 HYRS participants and the University of Lethbridge will have five HYRS participants working in the laboratories of Heritage funded and other researchers.
- HYRS participants have to prepare and present a scientific poster about their research to parents, teachers and guests at Teachers' Day and at an Open House. On their return to school in the fall, participants must also do a presentation about their summer experience to fellow students.
- The research projects the HYRS participants are involved in range from investigating what brain cells are involved in memory, to identifying mutations in genes, to how cells work in conditions such as diabetes, stroke, gastrointestinal, and kidney disease
- Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) currently provides funding for over 600 researchers and researchers in training at the Province's three main universities. The foundation supports a community of researchers who generate knowledge that improves the health and quality of life of Albertans and people throughout the world.AHFMR's commitment is to fund health research based on international standards of excellence and carried out by new and established investigators and researchers in training. Total AHFMR funding over 25 years is in excess of $800 million.For more information, visit www.ahfmr.ab.ca