Some of them needed stools to peer through the microscopes. Others had to double-roll the sleeves on their lab coats. But these minor inconveniences didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the 17 Putnam City School District elementary students who spent Thursday morning in the labs of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
“To think that I got to work with scientists for a day is really cool. I’ve never done this before,” said Rachel Okoh, a fifth-grader at Rollingwood Elementary. “It’s neat that they get to research stuff like this every day.”
More than a dozen OMRF researchers and technicians spent their mornings giving the students hands-on science lessons in OMRF’s labs. The annual event, Putnam City Junior Scientist Day, gives OMRF a chance to thank a school district that has raised more than $2.3 million—including $125,000 last year—for the foundation since 1975.
“The fact that Putnam City students have worked to raise more than $2 million for cancer research is incredible,” said OMRF President J. Donald Capra, M.D. “They may not be as tall as most of our donors, but their generosity is second to none. These young people have helped our scientists make important inroads against a deadly disease.”
The students raise the funds through a variety of events, including carnivals, bake sales and car washes. Currently, they are selling tickets to the Hornets April 7 game against the Toronto Raptors. Each ticket sold includes a $5 donation to OMRF. Students also are auctioning three suites to the game.
The funds have been used to purchase a wide variety of sophisticated laboratory equipment, including high-powered microscopes, centrifuges and incubators. The students’ efforts have even established the Putnam City Schools Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research.
“I don’t know of another endowed chair anywhere funded entirely by students,” Capra said. The chair is held by OMRF scientist Linda Thompson, Ph.D., whose work has helped create a breast cancer risk assessment test that soon will be available to women everywhere.
Thompson gave a presentation to Putnam City teachers and parents about her work while the students got the opportunity to sequence DNA, learn to pipette and use state-of-the-art technology to examine tiny organisms.
“Having the Putnam City students here is a high point for us each year—it brings out the little kid in even our most serious scientists,” Capra said. “And it just might be the catalyst that inspires one of these children to choose a career in research.”
High-resolution photos of Junior Scientist Day are available by e-mail upon request. To buy tickets in support of Putnam City Schools’ cancer research fundraiser, call (405) 208-4687. Upper level tickets are $15 each, and lower level tickets are $55.
About OMRF:
Celebrating its 60th birthday in 2006, OMRF (www.omrf.org) is a nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding and curing human disease. Its scientists focus on such critical research areas as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, lupus and cardiovascular disease. It is home to Oklahoma’s only member of the National Academy of Sciences.
