EnAct Club Takes Science on the Road

Nine students visited on Thursday evening to share their love of science – and a few interesting tricks.

The Harrison students, all members of the EnAct Science Club, set up experiments on stage as a delighted crowd of children and parents watched and cheered. Club adviser Kevin Miesner said his students "have to learn how to almost be a teacher. ... They often understand a concept, but to explain that concept is very difficult.

"I think, actually, the high school students get more out of this than the elementary students," Miesner said. "The elementary students may cheer and shout, but the high school students have often told me this is their favorite thing they do in all of high school, is to get up on the stage."

Trisha Phillips, a junior, donned gloves and a mask to show what happens when dry ice is dropped into different chemical solutions, then sat with her hand on a Van de Graff generator and shook her head until her hair was flying in all directions.

"The generator stores a lot of charge," explained Steve Dail, a science teacher who works with the club. "If you touch it, that charge travels into you."

Another experiment demonstrated atmospheric pressure, by placing a student inside a garbage bag, and then sucking all the air out of the bag with a vacuum cleaner. Club members and Wood Creek Principal Kathy Smith warned the younger students against the experiments at home.

Parent Teacher Association president Tammy Luty said the program, which was presented the same night as the school's science fair, was a great fit. "It's nice because (the students) will go there. Wood Creek is a feeder school for Harrison," she explained.

In addition to Phillips, Harrison students who participated in the Wood Creek demonstration were sophomores Sasha Parr, Dylan Keen and Justin Turner; junior Marc Taipala; and seniors Kishan Patel, who is club president, Cody Chunn and Jacob McGill.

Club members did demonstrations at Lanigan Elementary a few weeks ago and will travel to Hillside Elementary and Highmeadow Common Campus this year.

Correction: The name of club president Kishan Patel, who appears in the video with this story, was inadvertently omitted from the list of students who participated in the Wood Creek demonstration.