Since 1991, and for the 15th summer in a row, room 222 in Smith Hall has been one of the several places serving as classrooms for 20 to 25 rising ninth graders from Memphis City School.
Every morning starting at 9 a.m., the students, who are part of a project called the Radon, Energy and Air Project (REAP), gather in the classroom to participate in a six-week introduction to chemistry and its practical applications in clean air ecology.
REAP, which will last from June 13 to July 20, blends together classroom lectures and demonstrations with reading assignments and performance in office, laboratory and field settings. It is also designed to encourage the desire to promote learning and helps the students overcome any fears about chemistry being a difficult science to understand.
REAP, led by project director Dr. Larry Houk and his teaching assistants, covers a variety of scientifically-based topics. Some of the topics of study include the structure of atoms and molecules, heat, temperature, acids, bases and carbon compounds.
Companies and organizations, such as Memphis Light, Gas and Water, Memphis-Shelby County Health Department, Nissan Automobile Manufacturing Company and others, provide services and funding for REAP. With the help of these companies, the program is able to send its students on field trips and allows them to meet professional role models, such as chemists, engineers, professors and regulatory specialists.
The overall goal of REAP is based on a multi-year record where it is expected that both the academic and career areas of each student will be realized as a result of the program. Throughout the academic years, participants will be contacted to attend a variety of enrichment experiences at The University and the Memphis Area.
Some of the benefits that should result from REAP include the ability to read, write and talk about chemistry using chemical vocabulary, write and balance common chemical equations and perform laboratory experiments.
Although the program description may seem like a chemistry class taken in high school, the students are all going to be 10th graders in the fall and have yet to take chemistry, said Houk, who is also a professor of chemistry.
"I'm pleased with the results," Houk said. "Outcomes and goals are being met."
Houk said REAP has been a worthwhile alternative for young people in the summer, and it has been much better for them to do something meaningful in an instructional setting.
Peggy Armstrong, a Whitehaven High School chemistry teacher and one of the REAP teaching assistants, said the students do not bring any behavioral problems.
"The kids are competitive," Armstrong said. "It's a joy working with them."
Houk said he goes to the Memphis City Schools and recruits the students through guidance counselors and science teachers.
"What's refreshing is that there are kids who are capable of learning at an advanced level," said David Scott, another REAP teaching assistant and chemistry teacher at Whitehaven.
Scott said several of the kids need very little motivation because they are already interested in the subjects. At the same time, the program has helped integrate a lot of the students and has broken the knot in the classroom he said.
Many of the kids seem not only motivated to be in room 222 every morning, but also have career goals of their own.
Antron Jackson, a student from Georgian Hills Junior High, said although he has to arrive on campus at 8 a.m. due to the bus route, he has enjoyed every moment of being in class in the morning.
"I want to become an engineer," Jackson said. "I like dealing with math and sciences."
Cecily Wiseman, a 10th grader at Whitehaven, said although she balances her schedule between REAP in the morning and tennis clinics in the afternoon, she has not regretted being busy for the summer.
Wiseman said she one day wants to become either a mechanical, electrical or chemical engineer, and the classes have helped her understand a science a little more.
"I feel like this is an interesting program for me," Wiseman said. "Science is not my best subject, but I want to be good at it."
