Local Elementary Schools
UT Undergraduate Trevor Freeman with students at Pond Gap Elementary in 2015
The University of Tennessee has a steep history of going out into the community for its annual Brain Awareness Campaign. Since its inception in 2006, volunteering in local elementary schools has been one of the most consistently planned activities for undergraduate and graduate students of neuroscience and psychology. Every year, scores of students volunteer to join classrooms in public elementary, middle, and high schools in an effort to not only expose them to information about the brain, but to encourage interest in science education and competency in general.
This is of the most celebrated events for these students at UT and has led to partnerships with various local K-12 schools. Moreover, these partnerships are in keeping with the nationwide campaign’s first and most cherished initiatives and truly gets at the entire point behind the campaign’s mission at UT: to seek to inform and engage with others about the wonders and possibilities that are brain research.
UT Neuroscience PhD student, Alex Grizzell, showing a brain to 5th graders at Green Magnet STEAM Academy in 2016
From presenting visual and cognitive illusions to modeling neuronal networks with pipe cleaners, UT students have refined their science communication skills by sharing with local children their knowledge and passion for understanding what the brain is and how it works.
Visiting these students is helpful for the future of science in so many ways too, by promoting STEM education and awareness that “You too can be a scientist”.
After hearing of our plans to continue this great tradition in 2017, Sandy Morris, the former Magnet Facilitator at Green Magnet Academy in downtown Knoxville said, “I am so excited to hear that you would like to schedule events at GMA during Brain Awareness Month this year! I thoroughly enjoyed when you spoke to our students last year and would love to have you back.” This sentiment is shared across the board with our community partners in Knox County Schools. And we couldn’t be prouder.
Undergraduate and Graduate students from BCMB, Psychology, and Neuroscience pose after teaching 4th graders at Cedar Bluff Elementary all about the brain in 2018
In 2018, The Brain Awareness Campaign began a partnership with the The Muse Knoxville to share with kids ranging from toddlerhood to high school as well as their parents the wonders that are the human brain. UT student scientists joined these families at the Muse during their “Saturday Science Connections” and throughout Spring Break to provide mind-boggling demonstrations covering a wide variety of topics related to the brain. These include various activities and educational crafts such as: neuroanatomy demonstrations; sensation and perception illusions; build-your-own-neuron; how the brain processes and makes music; and many more. UT student athletes even joined the fun, sharing their experiences from Track and Field, Softball, and Rowing to help educate community children about the brain’s role in physical activity and reaction times.
