The last couple weeks have been a little bit different forUniversity of Memphis's Stephanie Ivey.
The assistant professor of civil engineering spent the last twoweeks teaching middle school children, which she said was a littledifferent than teaching her regular college students.
"There's been a lot of control involved this week," Ivey said."While college students just kind of come to class and doze off,these students are just everywhere at once."
Ivey is referring to the CN Youth Transportation Institute, aprogram at the Herff College of Engineering that focuses on thetechnical basis of the transportation industry and allows studentsto explore a variety of career options in the engineeringfield.
"It's middle school aged, co-ed children looking at modernengineering transportation," Ivey said. "The students are exposedto air, water, land and rail engineering. They try to understandcommon factors of each different types of transportation and thenconsider the unique aspects of each."
The program, which began July 12, involves more than 50 studentsand ends July 24. Activities run from 8 a.m. to noon in theEngineering Building.
"We have speakers come in from all four areas," Ivey said."We'll have someone from the Corp of Engineers talk about navigablewaters. We had a flight instructor talk about the aspects ofaircraft safety. We had a police officer come in to talk about roadsafety."
Ivey said besides safety, economic aspects in engineering werealso discussed.
"We took the kids on a field trip to FedEx to show how theexpress branch operates logistically," she said. "Besides fieldtrips and speakers, we also have a daily design challenge for thekids. We have built vehicles and airplanes."
Ivey said they have middle school teachers involved with thestudents as mentors who also bring the skills they learned backinto the classroom
Anne Faulks, a seventh grade social studies teacher at ApplingMiddle School, is one of those mentors and said she has beenthoroughly enjoying the event.
Faulks said her job as a mentor involves ensuring that studentsare on task and guiding and directing daily challenges.
"I believe the students are doing well," she said. "This givesthem the opportunity to think creatively and learn to cooperate.They get a real challenge in having patience and being considerateand respectful of other's ideas and opinions."
The CN Youth Transportation Institute is funded by the CanadianNational Railroad Company, one of the largest railroads in NorthAmerica, employing more than 450 people in Memphis.
Paul Palazolo, assistant professor of civil engineering, saidthis is the second year of the program, and as long as the fundingcontinues from Canadian National Railroad, the program willcontinue as well.
"This program gives students exposure to lots of differentcareer options they may not normally be aware of," Ivey said. "Theyget interested in the field because it is hands on instead of justlectures and field trips."
