Evergreen students participate in science camp activities

Disgusting, but fun.

That's how a pair of Evergreen students summed up several activities at a science camp they attended in July.

Erika Combs and Amber Grissom spent a week at Carroll College in Helena for a GEAR UP science camp. Combs and Grissom, who are in the eighth grade at Evergreen Junior High, were two of 28 students chosen to attend the camp. More than 100 kids wanted to attend, Combs said.

GEAR UP, or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, is a federal initiative that encourages students to set high academic goals, stay in school and prepare to go to college. It urges students of all economic backgrounds to consider college as an option after high school.

"It's all college-based, all looking at getting kids exposed to staying in dorms and getting the college experience as well as the academic experience," said Allison Mitchell, last year's GEAR UP coordinator at Evergreen Junior High.

There are several GEAR UP camps and workshops throughout the state all year long.

"The one at Carroll is always very popular, because it's a science camp," Mitchell said.

Combs and Grissom did enjoy the science aspect of camp; they examined fly larvae, hunted amphibians and learned about Jupiter's four moons. But they also had fun canoeing, rafting and slapping one another with slimy, wet seaweed.

"It was so disgusting," Combs said.

Ten Evergreen students applied for GEAR UP summer camps, Mitchell said. The students had to list their top two camp choices, and statewide GEAR UP coordinators decided which applications to accept. All of Evergreen's applicants were chosen to attend a camp.

Mitchell was pleased with the number of applications she received.

"Sometimes it's hard to convince kids to go away from home," she said. "This group was gung-ho. They were all over it."

Combs and Grissom were excited about attending camp. Both had hoped they'd be accepted to the science camp, "because I love science," Grissom said. Combs agreed.

They spent their first evening in Helena getting acquainted with their dorm, their counselors and the other campers, who came from schools across the state. They quickly made friends with the other students and plan to stay in touch with many of them.

Camp activities covered a wide array of scientific fields. On the first day, students collected black fly larvae from the Missouri River and studied them under microscopes. The next day, they went frog hunting.

Amphibians' health is a good indication of how clean the water supply is, Combs said.

"You can tell if something's wrong with the water through their skin," she explained.

She paused, then added, "It was gross, because we had to go through the swamp."

"But it was fun," Grissom said.

Combs nodded. "It was fun."

Later in the week, the campers collected mineral samples at Spring Hill Mine, learned how to use compasses and read topographic maps and studied Jupiter from the college's Neuman Observatory.

"That was awesome," Grissom said.

Grissom most enjoyed rafting on the Missouri River, but appreciated the opportunity to study the fly larvae. It's a skill she may use later in life when she becomes an ethologist - a scientist who studies animal behavior.

"I like studying things about animals," she said. "I like learning about what's happening to their environment."

Combs, who wants to become a veterinarian, said she didn't learn anything particularly relevant to her future career. She did, however, have a chance to think about where she might go after she graduates from high school.

"I might want to go to Carroll," she said. "Shannon [one of the counselors] went there. She's going to be a vet."

That's one of GEAR UP's goals, Mitchell said - getting kids to move beyond debating whether they will be able to attend college. Instead, the program wants kids to consider college an attainable goal.

"These students need to hear that," she said.

Combs and Grissom know they're going to college someday. At camp, they learned about scholarship opportunities available through GEAR UP.

Grissom said she would definitely recommend other students participate in GEAR UP programs.

"Yeah, it's fun," she said.

Combs agreed. "I wonder if we can go next year?"

On the 'Net: www.gearup.montana.edu

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com