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Creative Science students turn to podcasts to raise money for cancer research
12/10/2018Creative Science School’s motto is, “Encouraging students to be independent thinkers, learners, and problem solvers.” An ongoing project to raise money for cancer research shows just how much the K-8 school’s student live up to the motto.
A group of the Southeast Portland school’s older students is trying to raise $125,000 to fund research on cancer. Their fund-raising vehicle: podcasts.
“We thought if they told stories using podcast, then that would raise attention and hopefully money that would help them tackle this idea of how could they cure cancer, or at least provide hope,” said Rawls Moore, a math/technology teacher.
The funds are not just a donation, but will let Creative Science students work in a laboratory to study how cancer cells behave and react and try to brainstorm ideas to halt the disease.
The podcasts will involve about 80 students and cover a variety of aspects of cancer. For example, one will be called “Zero Percent” and cover terminal patients. Another is “Why Don’t Whales Get Cancer,” an exploration why the large ocean mammals don’t die of the disease. Other podcasts will look at cancer around the world and different types of cancer throughout history.
Already, one of group students conducted an interview with former Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller, who has battled ovarian cancer. The students found Miller on Facebook and contacted her, securing an interview that went about 19 minutes and will probably be broken into two podcasts.
The podcasts will be available on multiple platforms, including iTunes, Spotify and Google Play, under the name “Education Upload.” The students would like to find a sponsor for the podcasts, but are also appealing for funding with a campaign on Consano.org, a crowdfunding platform for medical research.
The money will go toward expenses and to fund a research associate through the Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute in Beaverton. The hope is for students to be able to travel to CC-TDI monthly to participate in work that will involve quail eggs, which have become a prominent tool in cancer research because they are cheaper and easier to work with than mice.
Almost all the legwork to set up the program was done by the students.
“There was a point last year where the students were Googling where to buy cancer cells, how do you ship cancer cells, what kind of medium do you grow cancer cells in,” Moore said.
The work started last year, but was sidetracked when a student in one of the classes was diagnosed with cancer, and the fund-raising focus was diverted to him and his family. As the program has built this school year, excitement about it has built in the focus-option school, where student learn through a science lens.
“Sixth-graders who are not part of this are already asking about getting involved,’” said Kyle Hunter, a science teacher who oversees the program with Moore. “It’s really invigorated the students.”
The program was featured in a story by Jenny Hansson of KOIN:
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