Biomedical Science students conduct middle school outreach

Students from the Biomedical Science program at the Aiken County Career & Technology Center spent Medical Laboratory Professionals Week in April conducting outreach in middle schools and holding their second BioBash event, teaching some of the laboratory skills they’ve learned in the program.

“We love doing this,” said Dr. Christie Palladino, a physician who runs the program and instructs the students. “We love doing STEM outreach for the community.”

Palladino and her team of student ambassadors visited approximately 1,000 sixth-graders at Jackson STEM Middle, New Ellenton STEM Middle, Paul Knox Middle, Aiken Intermediate, and North Augusta Middle. They conducted labs demonstrating types of blood cells, how to use a microscope, the layers of the human hair, and the organization of the human body.

At the BioBash event on April 23, the students created and staffed six stations around the Career Center, demonstrating fingerprinting, phlebotomy and neural signal pathways, and conducting an Outbreak Escape Room.

“That’s the whole point of outreach. The students learn as they create it. They’re teaching it, so they’re synthesizing it,” Palladino said.

The two-year program has career pathways, one for becoming a Certified Medical Lab Assistant and the other preparing students for the Biotechnician Assistant Credential Exam.

Tristen Johnson, a second-year student, was staffing a station where he taught visitors how to use pipettes to measure and dispense exact amounts of liquid. He said he plans to study marine biology in college.

“If I didn’t want to go to college I could get a job with the certification I’m working for,” Johnson said. “I think it’s great. I’ve learned a lot.”

At the phlebotomy station, Catina Hamilton and Sky Cousins walked visitors through the process of taking blood samples.

“We have dummy arms and we’re just doing venipunctures, drawing blood,” Hamilton said. “I really like the program. I would recommend it.”

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