For Young Middle science students, it’ll be more than just a brick in the wall

A little inspiration goes a long way, especially when it comes to the new and improved facilities at Young Middle School. Eighth-grade science teacher Alexander Micacchione thought so when he learned about the National Science Teachers Association‘s proposed $30 million John Glenn Center for Science Education Building, which will be housed in Alexandria, Va. So Micacchione asked his students if they’d like to get in on the action, and sure enough, they all chipped in and purchased a $75 engraved brick that will be a part of the new building.

Micacchione can relate; Young just went through a $22 million renovation (see story here), which included a state-of-the-art science classroom for his students. “This is the first time I’ve had a real, true science classroom,” said Micacchione, an eight-year veteran of Young Middle. “Now we have a true science lab classroom together, complete with running water and lab tables. It’s a blessing, because when you try to do an experiment on a desk and it’s slanted, things slide off. Even the kids were excited when they saw it. I have a Promethean board, which helps so much cuz they can see it almost like a movie and it gets their attention and holds their attention.”

Eighth-grader Sandra Clinkscale agreed: “It’s lot of fun. We have our new equipment and we have telescopes and it’s big, and really fun. We do more hands-on labs, and we’ll go outside and have experiments. For our Promethean board, he can demonstate everything. If he wanted to tell us about energy, he can show us pictures about it from the Internet. And we’ll talk about the earth, and its atmosphere, we can see how black holes are formed.”