The leaders of a National Institutes of Health program recruiting minority D.C. high school students for science careers are disappointed that representatives of D.C. schools failed to show up for a program that was supposed to be a joint venture with the city, event organizers told The Examiner.
Now in its third year, SciLife2007 is a forum for hundreds of public school students to network with established, national-caliber researchers and see what career possibilities are open to them in science fields.
The problem is, despite promises to the contrary, no one from D.C. government made it out, said Ken Tolson, chief operating officer of the Emerging Technology Consortium, which was instrumental in bringing the program to life.
He said the feeling on the NIH side is that the District is “not living up to its end of the bargain,” which may cause the national science agency to move the initiative to either Maryland or Virginia – and with it the millions of federal dollars that support the program.
“This is an opportunity for kids to establish relationships where they can become doctors,” Tolson said. “Somebody let the ball drop on this, and it’s a shame.”
Chad Womack, a former NIH researcher who is working on establishing greater cohesion between D.C. schools and NIH, said the goal of events like last weekend’s is to make sure D.C. students have access to NIH, as a resource and asset.
“We have huge facilities and huge capacities – so one would think the D.C. government would be falling all over themselves to take advantage of that, but they’re not,” he said. “It reflects a lack of understanding on the part of municipal government, although D.C.’s not alone, on why investment in math and science for youths is critical.”
Asked for comment, Chancellor Michelle Rhee did not directly address why school representatives missed last week’s event. But she said in an e-mail through her spokeswoman that, “as the school system pushes through its transition period, we will not only continue but increase participation in important academic partnerships like the NIH science program.”
In the future, Womack said he is hoping to get the District to set aside $5 million to build a high-tech science lab at McKinley High School that can be utilized by all D.C. students and to make NIH scientists available at the lab.
