The Front Porch: Why Celery Stalks Make for Cool Science

By Mark Gesner

Do you know what happens when you put a celery stalk in water that has blue food coloring?  How about if you put a celery stalk in a glass of Mountain Dew?  Do you think the celery stalk will continue to grow strong and green?

The students in Mrs. Laurie Nikolic’s third grade class at Gifford Elementary School in Racine can tell you about the growth of celery stalks and about how to understand complicated concepts like density.  That’s because the kids in Mrs. Nikolic’s class are learning a lot about science in some pretty nifty ways. According to third grader Luke Behrendt, “the coolest things are the experiments.  We learn while we’re having fun.   Mrs. Nikolic lets us do things like look at the inside of bulbs.  I like it.”  

It’s the experiments that have also captured the attention of Luke’s classmate, Paige Allen.  Paige explained that “not all the stuff you read in books is always true, but with experiments, you can really see what happens.”  Seeing is believing for Paige, and it is also exciting.  Her advice to other third graders is “to not think of science as being boring, it can be fun if you learn by doing experiments.”

Explore the topic of teaching science with Mrs. Nikolic a bit further and it quickly becomes clear that there is a method to her experimental madness.  She’s glad to hear that her students are having fun, because when they’re having fun making it through the science curriculum, she’s pretty sure that they’re also engaged and learning memorable concepts.  “We have built our curriculum on the principle of student inquiry,” explained Mrs. Nikolic.  “We now understand a lot more about how to help kids gain a love for science.”

The third grade teacher attributes much of her new understanding about science to lessons learned at the professional development training she received through her work with a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction funded project called Preparing Outstanding Science Educators (POSE).  It was in this forum provided through a University of Wisconsin-Parkside partnership with the Racine Unified School District (RUSD), that Mrs. Nikolic gained a whole new perspective on science.  “The curriculum we learned about and now teach is all about instilling wonder.   I am able to adapt the curriculum and go with where the students have interest,” she said.  “If they want to know more about why a cheetah has spots, then we’ll explore that topic.  The learning is much more meaningful when the kids have input on what we explore.”

According to Mrs. Nikolic, experiencing the POSE training was an “awesome and invaluable experience that lit a fire under a lot of teachers in Racine.”   Her comments are music to the ears of people like  John Surendonk, RUSD Elementary School Science Coordinator, and Shannon McGuire, Education Outreach Director at UW-Parkside.  When an educator understands how to be comfortable shifting from teacher-led work to building off the wonder of student inquiry, it’s an amazing transformation, according to Mr. Surendonk.  Ms. McGuire agreed, and explained “seeing teachers be rejuvenated and prepared to help students learn in exciting new ways is an awesome thing to witness.”

Mr. Surendonk and Ms. McGuire have had the opportunity, thanks to a cadre of seasoned educators from the university and elsewhere, to provide continuing education to thousands of teachers through programs like POSE and The Chiwaukee  Academy.  The Chiwaukee Academy is a partnership effort between UW-Parkside, RUSD, the Kenosha Unified School District and Carthage College that provides professional development to about 200 teachers each summer on the UW-Parkside campus on topics ranging from Apple’s iLife Integration to Effective Middle School Science Teaching. 

“So many times partnerships end after a grant is over.  We have an example of a partnership that has been sustained and has grown,” said Mr. Surendonk.  In addition to the ongoing Chiwaukee partnership, he also pointed to a current collaboration supported by a National Science Foundation grant called Preparing Urban Lakeshore Science Educators (PULSE).  PULSE is a planning effort to help experienced teachers like Mrs. Nicolic, as well as new teacher education students, to more effectively teach science in urban settings in grades 3 – 8.

Of course, Luke and Paige may not care much about things like POSE, Chilwaukee and PULSE, but they do care a whole lot about how a celery stalk grows.  And while they’ll be glad to tell you that Mrs. Nikolic is a cool teacher who knows how to have fun, they may not tell you exactly what happens to that celery stalk that sat in Mountain Dew.  Hey, if you want to remember lessons about science, Luke and Paige recommend that you do the experiment yourself!

Front Porch Rockers

Good Company: Join the award-winning University of Wisconsin-Parkside Theatre Arts department for Stephen Sondheim’s Company (The Musical). Directed by Jamie Cheatham, Artistic Director and Head of the Acting Program at UW-Parkside, Company is the story of Bobby's 35th birthday and the five married couples, who are his best friends, and his three girlfriends, who are waiting to see if he's ready to take the plunge.  Performances will be in the Communication Arts Theatre on February 18, 19, 24, 25 & 26 at 7:30 p.m.; February 20 at 2:00 p.m.; and February 25 at 10:00 a.m. For ticket information, please visit the UW-Parkside Theatre Arts Box Office website.

A Teach-In about Homophobia and Bullying will take place on Thursday, February 24, 2011 from 4:30 PM to 8:00 PM at Gateway Technical College Racine Campus Conference Center, Michigan Room (101 S. Main St., Racine). Organized by the UW-Parkside Center for Community Partnerships Diversity Programs and UW-Parkside LGBTQ Resource Center, this is an opportunity to help administrators, teachers, and counselors create safer school environments for all students, not just those who are gay and lesbian. For more information or to register, visit the UW-Parkside Continuing Education website, or call Emily Battisti at 262-595-2018.

Saturday Information Sessions and Experience Days: Join UW-Parkside Admissions for upcoming Saturday Information Sessions and Experience Days. Held on February 26, April 2, and May 7 from 9 a.m. - 12 noon in the UW-Parkside Student Center, Saturday Information Sessions are open houses that include a campus tour and an admissions presentation.  Held on March 25^th and April 15^th Experience Days include a brief admissions overview, Q&A sessions, campus tour and an actual “UW-Parkside experience” provided by faculty.  For more information or to register for either event, please visit the UW-Parkside Admissions website.

 Mark Gesner is the Director of Community Development at the University of Wisconsin – Parkside.   Contact him directly at mark.gesner@uwp.edu.

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The Front Porch: New mentoring program one way to help build community

Do you recall the last time you enjoyed a visit on a front porch? Perhaps you chatted with a neighbor about how to solve a problem on Main Street, or maybe a friend came over to brainstorm about how to launch a new business. It seems to me that a whole lot of good thinking and old fashioned community building takes place on front porches – it’s a nice place to spend some time and sort out next steps.

The front porch is a metaphor we often like to use for the Center for Community Partnerships (CCP) at the University of Wisconsin–Parkside. We strive to be a front porch for the University as community members come for a visit and decide whether to spend a bit of time with students, faculty and staff. Community members may choose to step from our porch into the door of a classroom or conference, or experience some other opportunity our campus has to offer. There are also many instances when our faculty, staff and students step off the porch and venture into the community. A campus community member might engage in a service-learning or research project, provide expertise for a local business or organization, or participate in a collaborative effort to address a regional need like workforce development or educational attainment.

At the CCP, our primary focus areas are nonprofit development, community-based scholarship, continuing education for teachers and other professionals, and community development and diversity issues. In this column, my colleague Debra Karp and I will not only let you know about some innovative programs and opportunities that you can explore at the university and in the community, but also about various resources that are at your fingertips.

The Front Porch will inevitably celebrate significant UW-Parkside grant awards like the $1,000,000 we recently received from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to foster nonprofit capacity building, or the $500,000 awarded by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to expand mentoring in middle schools, or the $300,000 from the National Science Foundation to support science teaching efforts, particularly in grades 3 – 8 in urban schools. But more importantly, we will explain what we’re doing with the resources we garner and how you can benefit from and collaborate in the work that takes place.

To be clear, community engagement does not only happen at the CCP. As our new Chancellor Deborah Ford is quick to point out, community engagement is a hallmark at UW-Parkside that permeates throughout the University. In fact, our university wide community engagement efforts have been recognized by the Carnegie Foundation that chose us as the first public post-secondary learning institution in the state to be honored for service-learning and community partnership efforts.

Since community engagement is a university wide priority, this column will also highlight community engagement efforts across campus. You will learn about star-studded teaching and outreach efforts like when our Theatre Arts Department recently earned the first University of Wisconsin Regents Teaching Excellence Award ever bestowed upon an arts department. We might also share news about some nifty global partnerships like when Professor and Fulbright Scholar Jonathan Olsen connects with colleagues in Germany to co-author a book, or when he creates an international learning opportunity for students. Have a chat with Prof. Olsen and he will likely urge you to “Die Welt erleben,” or “Experience the World.”

Yes, there may be some boasting on our front porch just like grandpa used to do, but more importantly, we hope to stimulate thinking and prompt opportunities to meet community needs and spark new partnerships. We won’t just pontificate about building social and economic capital – we’ll do it right here in this column by helping you make connections and provide pieces of information that are relevant and meaningful.

Each column will end with three “Front Porch Rockers” that provide opportunities for you to engage with the University and/or the community. Here are today’s rockers:

Front Porch Rockers

1) Become a Mentor: Mentor Kenosha & Racine is making a big push to recruit mentors for sixth graders in the Racine and Kenosha Unified School Districts. Learn how you can become a mentor at www.mentorkr.org or call (262) 595-2635.

2) Apply for a Nonprofit Capacity Building Grant: Attend the “CAN Works Launch” on February 4 to learn how local nonprofit organizations can get grants and technical support to help to sustain and grow their efforts. Learn more at www.uwp.edu (keyword: nonprofit development) or call (262) 595-2312.

3) Attend a Play: The Theatre Arts Department presents a one act play festival on through Jan. 31 entitled “Delights in Dementia.” Learn more at http://www.uwp.edu/news/newstemp.cfm?storyID=3250 or call (262) 595-2547.

So please pull up a chair, spend some time on your university’s front porch, and let’s see together what problems we can solve, partnerships we can create, and learning and laughter we can enjoy.


Mark Gesner is the Director of Community Development & Dialogues at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Contact him directly at mark.gesner@uwp.edu.