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STEM and Health Student Reporting Labs tackle the worlds of engineering and health science

WASHINGTON, DC — September 19, 2018 — Two new series produced by teen reporters in PBS NewsHour’s STEM and Health Student Reporting Labs reveal how engineers and medical professionals across the country are improving people’s lives and reshaping our world. One of the stories, featuring 4-year-old Ella Morton and a creative team of young engineers at EnableUC who utilize an affordable process to print 3D prosthetics for children, aired on the NewsHour on September 3.

Students in 22 STEM Reporting Labs from 15 different states contributed videos to Engineering Our World. In New Jersey, Cape May County Technical High School investigated how engineers are reimagining how prison’s can be constructed to be both more humane and cost-effective. In Hawaii, students at Maui Waena Intermediate followed an aquaponics movement that aims to teach the local community to grow high quality food in small outdoor areas.

This was the STEM Reporting Labs’ third year working with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to enhance students’ experiences, understanding and engagement in STEM, health, and media literacy.

Health Innovators, made possible through a grant from the Science Education Partnership Award of the National Institutes of Health, focuses on how research and discovery are saving lives and redefining what it means to be “healthy.” From the relationship between animal and human pain to the use of virtual and augmented reality to improve patient outcomes, students in SRL’s Health Reporting Labs pitched, wrote and produced pieces that reveal developing technologies to meet the needs of diverse populations.

Both series are the culmination of a year-long journey immersed in SRL’s STEM and Health Reporting Labs curriculum, working with STEM and medical experts and PBS mentors. This project-based learning approach challenges students to find stories in their own backyard, while applying scientific rigor and journalistic standards to their storytelling.

Featured Labs:

  • Almond-Bancroft School District, Almond, WI
  • Cape May County Technical High School, Courthouse, NJ
  • Cedar Crest High School, Lebanon, PA
  • Cheektowaga Central High School, Buffalo, NY
  • The Computer School, New York, NY
  • Dalton Middle School, Dalton, GA
  • Daniel Pearl Magnet High School, Lake Balboa, CA
  • Etiwanda High School, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
  • Hardin County Schools Early College and Career Center, Elizabethtown, KY
  • Hughes STEM High School, Cincinnati, OH
  • Health and Science School, Beaverton, OR
  • Judge Memorial Catholic High School, Salt Lake City, UT
  • Kauai High School, Lihue, HI
  • Legacy Early College, Greenville, SC
  • Manor High School, Manor, TX
  • Maui Waena Intermediate, Kahului,HI
  • Media Enterprise Alliance, Oakland, CA
  • Smoky Mountain Youth Media, Knoxville, TN
  • South Mountain High School, Phoenix, AZ
  • STEM Academy at Bartlett, Savannah, GA
  • Vista PEAK Preparatory, Aurora, CO
  • Xavier College Preparatory, Phoenix, AZ
  • Academy Prep Center of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, FL
  • Alaska Teen Media Institute, Anchorage, AK
  • Black River Falls High School, Black River Falls, WI
  • Communication Arts High School, San Antonio, TX
  • Forestview High School, Gastonia, NC
  • Free Spirit Media, Chicago, IL
  • Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, Boston, MA
  • Royal Oak High School, Royal Oak, MI
  • The Atlantic County Institute of Technology, Mays Landing, NJ

Station support for this project provided by:

Wisconsin Public Television; New Jersey TV; WITF-Harrisburg, PA; WNED-Western New York Public TV; WNET-New York Public TV; WTCI-Chattanooga,TN; PBS SoCal; KET-Kentucky Education TV; OPB-Oregon Public Broadcasting; UEN-TV-Utah Education Center; PBS Hawaii; SCETV-South Carolina Education Television; East Tennessee PBS; Arizona PBS.

About PBS NewsHour                                                                                  

PBS NewsHour is seen by over five million weekly viewers and the full broadcast is also available online, via public radio in select markets, and via podcast. PBS NewsHour is a production of NewsHour Productions LLC, a wholly-owned nonprofit subsidiary of WETA Washington, D.C., in association with WNET New York. More information on PBS NewsHour is available at pbs.org/newshour. On social media, visit NewsHour on Facebook or follow @NewsHour on Twitter.

Media Contacts

Leah Clapman, Managing Editor, Education, NewsHour: lclapman@newshour.org

Elis Estrada, Director, Student Reporting Labs: eestrada@newshour.org

 

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