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Walther Lutheran Academy Press Releases
SCIENCE GETS HIGH MARKS AT WALTHER LUTHERAN ACADEMY @FOREST PARK (May 7, 2008) American students have fallen way behind the rest of the world in the sciences. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, the United States ranked only 23rd out of 41 industrialized nations studied for science literacy among 15 year olds. Walther Lutheran Academy @Forest Park is one school that is taking a proactive approach toward changing that abysmal outcome of American science education. Students from 3 years old through 8th grade at the area Christian school are being exposed to a higher level of science through the Academy’s educational partnerships with Concordia University Chicago, Walther Lutheran High School and an exceptional Golden Teachers group. The students at Walther Lutheran Academy are regularly exposed to college prep level science lessons, professionals working in the sciences and a variety of competitive science opportunities. Mr. Matt Tuomi, chemistry teacher at Walther Lutheran High School, recently introduced Academy students to the diverse properties of liquids and gases in a dramatic fashion. Tuomi’s demonstration used liquid nitrogen to illustrate the extreme cold on bananas, roses and rubber, rendering them both solid and brittle. “The students screamed and picked up their feet as the liquid nitrogen beaded up under them,” explained Tuomi, who was dubbed “Mr. Science” by the Academy kids. Liquid nitrogen may not be a daily component in these students’ lives, but the weather certainly is. The Academy pupils recently welcomed AccuWeather© meteorologist Joe Lundberg to the classroom. Lundberg, who is featured daily on radio and television broadcasts from New England to the West Coast, shared how he developed a fascination with weather as a child and he introduced his young audience to the science behind weather forecasting. Walther Lutheran Academy science is not restricted to the classroom. The school offer 5th through 8th graders the chance to compete in Walther Lutheran High School’s extracurricular science league in which teams of two to four students tackling monthly science challenges. In this year’s contest the Academy’s four teams placed 2nd, 3rd and 3rd in a tie and 6th out of 22 area middle school squads. Retired high school physics teacher John Marusek works with the Academy science classes once a month. As a Golden Teacher, Marusek brings 47 years of experience to the task of fostering a love of learning about science and how to apply it. “He has this huge rock collection,” explained Kathy Fife, science teacher at the Academy. He brought it in and the kids worked with him to identify them all.” He also taught the classes how soundwaves are recorded. “It was fascinating,” shared Fife. “Mr. Marusek brought in these old cylinder gramophone records and a gramophone player. He showed the kids how it worked and then he had special paper and needle-like pens for them to make their own gramophone cylinders. They got to play them on the gramophone and some of them really worked!” On his most recent visit, Marusek found inspiration for his lesson in a trip he took to Rome with his family. “While in Rome,” he shared, “We went and saw the Sistine Chapel ceiling painted by Michaelangelo.” The frescoes of the Sistine Chapel underwent a complete restoration between 1979 and 1999, and DaVinci’s “The Last Supper” is in a permanent process of restoration, so Marusek decided to share the science behind the art of restoration with his eager students. He explained that restorers want to use paint as close to the original medium as possible, and he brought the class natural materials that Michaelangelo and DaVinci would have used to make their various hues of paint. He challenged the students to create nine of the necessary colors using scientific methods and while none of them met the goal, Marusek was pleased that several of the class members did a fair job of creating four or five appropriate shades. Mrs. Kathy Fife serves as the primary science teacher at the Academy. A visit to her classroom offers a peek into the life sciences that her junior high students are studying and the earth sciences that the younger kids are learning about. “It’s fungi, mold and yeast, right now in 7th and 8th grade…but the 5th and 6th graders are studying volcanoes and earthquakes.” The students have grown salt crystals and recently made their own sedimentary rocks. “It’s not hard,” said Fife, peeling away a paper cup mold to reveal a homemade rock. Fife offered the following simple sedimentary rock recipe: “You mix sand, Epsom salts and water, then you let the liquid evaporate.” A textbook unit on protecting the earth’s resources inspired one of her classes to test the rainfall in the neighbor around the almost 140 year old school building at Circle Avenue and Washington Street in Forest Park. “You’ll be glad to know our rain is only slightly acidic,” announced Fife. Fife recently involved her students in The Illinois Junior Academy of Science competition. Five of them went on to compete in the group’s regional science fair at the Museum of Science and Industry. There were over three hundred entrants from nonpublic schools in Chicago and the suburbs. Walther Lutheran Academy did well. 7th grader Gabe Andrle’s demonstration of electrical charges in fruits and vegetable and 7th grader Patrick Wright‘s work on the effect of extreme temperatures on seed sprouting were each awarded a gold medal. 8th grader Sandra Garcia and 7th grader Jacob Trader each won silver for their respective behavioral science tests on male/female auditory and visual memory and positive/negative stimulus modification. Jada Heyworth, 8th grader, brought home a bronze for analyzing the Ph balance of different bottled water brands. For Academy children who want to take a love of science into the real world, the school hosts and supports an extracurricular Odyssey of the Mind team. Odyssey of the Mind is an international multi-disciplinary educational program that provides students with creative problem-solving opportunities and competitions. The Odyssey challenges can be as diverse as presenting dramatic interpretation of literary classics or designing a factory but tend to lean heavily on the sciences as did this year’s mechanical vehicle building project, shockwave absorption demonstration and candy making chemistry event. The Academy is hosting an Open House on Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. for families with children preschool through 8th grade. Parents and students are invited to visit with teachers in their classrooms and receive 2008-2009 registration and admission information. Walther Lutheran Academy @Forest Park includes a comprehensive Early Childcare Center and is located at 305 Circle Avenue in Forest Park. The Academy offers the benefits of multiage learning in a caring Christian environment with extended care from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Educational partnerships with respected academic institutions give the Academy an emphasis on high academic standards and broad-based extracurricular opportunities. The Academy operates under the umbrella of the Walther Lutheran Association which is the parent organization of Walther Lutheran High School. The college preparatory school in Melrose Park has been a cornerstone of Lutheran Education in the Chicago area since 1954. Together the Walther Lutheran Academy and the Walther Lutheran High School campuses offer superior classroom instruction and extracurricular experience for students from age 3 through 12th grade. In partnership with Concordia University Chicago, the total Lutheran Educational experience is designed to continue into college and beyond. For information about Walther Lutheran Academy @Forest Park call 708.366.2764 or visit Walther.com. Press Release contact: Lori Solyom, Public Information Coordinator |
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