The DHHS Spokane Research Center (formerly under the DOI, Bureau of Mines) has always known that its outreach efforts have helped thousands of area school kids develop an understanding and a general appreciation of the study of science. Usually, when an organization has a Community Outreach program, the benefit received back is often the intangible kind – the warm fuzzy feeling from helping others. But recently, the Spokane Research Center (SRC) in Washington state received much more back from its surrounding community.

When the Spokane Research Center’s parent agency, the Bureau of Mines, was abolished a year and a half ago, fifteen other research centers were closed down. The SRC was spared, partly because of the intense support voiced to western legislators by schools, colleges, the Chamber of Commerce, banks, Boy and Girl Scouts, non profit organizations, as well as mining companies, timber companies, and other business entities the Center had benefited. The community as a whole was grateful for Spokane Center’s long standing relationship with it’s area schools as well as its commitment to improving science education for students and teachers.

The Center’s three pronged approach to community outreach consists of the “Silver Kid Mine,” and a training workshop curriculum for K-12 teachers that is taught by SRC’s industry professionals. The Silver Kid Mine is a support tunnel beneath the large equipment research bay that was re-engineered by SRC to be a very realistic replica of an underground silver mine. Close to 2000 students per year tour the Silver Kid, learn about the rock cycle, the uses of minerals, the role of the federal government in mining research, health and safety of miners, and abandoned mine safety. The students get to put on hard hats and safety glasses and go into a realistic mine. (In the U.S. people under the age of 18 are prohibited from going into working underground mines.) Because the mine is realistic enough to be frightening to small children, visitors are limited to 4th grade and up. High school, college, and adult groups also visit the Silver Kid during the year. Exit evaluations from each group visiting the mine are consistently outstanding. From the Center’s point of view, one of the most beneficial aspects of the Silver Kid Mine it that students experience something that they couldn’t get anywhere else.

The second part of the Center’s outreach program focuses on the teachers themselves. There are 943 K-6 classes in the Spokane school district alone, and 14 more school districts near by. While middle and high school science teachers generally receive instruction in the sciences, very few K-6 teachers had, and all of them were required to teach science. The Center began working with area schools to help remedy this situation. A series of activity-based workshops was developed in cooperation with other natural resource professionals. No professional educators were used, only industry professionals. The goal was to make the sessions “fun,” so that the teachers could transport a non-phobic, fun approach to studying science into the classroom. Close to 500 teachers have completed the workshops. Post-workshop evaluations show that teachers are using the materials and activities, and that the students love them.

The Spokane school district (36,000 students) adopted a completely activity-based science program for K-6 teachers, which included a 5 year teacher training program. SRC employees became actively involved in working with curriculum coordinators, and developed the Earth Science activities for the program. The District has reported dramatically successful results.

The third portion of the Center’s outreach program has been to enlist more help. The SRC had been a member of the “Partners in Education” group for many years. Originally designed as an “Adopt-a-School” model, this organization was used as a spring board to develop a separate group, known as the “Partners at Large” (PALs). Aggressive recruiting program brought many new PALs into the organization, most of whom were government agencies involved in science based activities of some sort (County Engineering, State Department of Transportation, the local Air Force Base, City Police Forensics Lab, US Geologic Survey, etc.). A catalog of available resources was developed, which included tours, classroom visits, libraries, equipment, and any other resource that was considered of value to a school.

Fortunately, the Spokane Research Center was spared when the Bureau of Mine’s other research centers were shut down. The employee’s outreach “good deeds” garnered them tremendous support from the surrounding community who perceived the SRC to be a very valuable asset. The Center has continued to be a strategic member of a coordinated regional science effort, combining the resources of the education community, other government agencies, and industry to improve educational opportunities for our children.