Young students find this medicine easy to swallow

Aaron Clemens

Monday, July 17, 2000 | 9:38 a.m.

Kendall Miller, 11, wants to be an obstetrician-gynecologist. No fear of blood will keep her away from medicine, she said.

Instead of spending the summer out of the classroom like most students, Kendall has been busy dissecting pig hearts and listening to lectures from medical professionals and teachers at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.

She is one of 29 sixth and seventh graders in the six-week Season of Discovery program, which ends Friday. The program aims to get students excited about medicine so they will achieve in science and math, requirements for medical school.

Susie Thomas, 12, has set her sights on becoming a heart surgeon. She said that sometimes friends ask her why she's going to school during summer, to which she replies, "One day it will pay off."

Kendall agreed.

"You want to do other things, like hanging out at Wet 'N Wild, but here is a lot more fun."

They both say problem-based learning -- in which students are given a hypothetical patient whom they diagnose -- is one of their favorite activities.

The Season of Discovery is made possible by a $750,000 federal grant. The grant funds this program -- the first of its kind in Nevada -- for the next three years. The Howard Hughes Foundation is a past and continuing sponsor as well.

The program targets students whose families have no college education, who qualify for school lunch programs or public assistance, who come from a home where English is spoken as a second language or reside in a rural or inner-city area. Next summer it will expand to 120 students in grades 6 through 11.

This year 75 students applied for 30 slots. Each of four students interviewed said they will reapply next summer for the progressive program, which coincides with the school district's science curriculum for the following academic school year.

The program differs from school because the teachers don't make learning boring, Julian Sample, 13, said. He wants to be a sports physician.

Natalie Mazzulo, who directs the program, planned for months to ensure students stay interested. She came up with interactive assignments that combine complex subjects in an innovative and active manner.

"Why would a kid want to come for six weeks to something that is just like regular school?" she said.

Besides the exposure to medicine, Mazzulo said, the children get another benefit: the opportunity to build relationships with other students who have similar career goals, not those who are into gangs or drugs.

For more information on the program, call Mazzulo at 671-2372.