Polymer science program sets students up for future careers by Lisa Kröger, Ph.D. Working with the same cutting-edge technology that scientists are using to build Boeing 787 jets and Northrop Grumman destroyers is not the average experience for most high school students. But for teacher James Brownlow’s students, it is just another day in Polymer Science class. Polymer Science is one of the career pathways offered in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics career cluster. This pathway started out small, offered at only one school in Mississippi. Since Petal High School’s pilot program, the two-year class has expanded to nine schools, including Hattiesburg High School, where Brownlow has been teaching the Polymer Science curriculum for four years.
Mississippi schools offering Polymer Science: Petal High School Moss Point High School Carl Loftin Center, Columbia Alcorn County Schools Hattiesburg High School Pascagoula High School Hancock Schools Simpson County Schools Madison County Schools One reason Brownlow likes the program so much is the options it provides for his students’ futures. A student could use his or her knowledge to go directly into the workforce via an apprenticeship with one of the many industry connections established through the Polymer Science program, places like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, or NASA’s Stennis Space Center. A student is also set up for success at the postsecondary level, whether he or she chooses a community or junior college or a four-year university. Currently, Mississippi’s community colleges do not offer a polymer program, but Polymer Science students have used their interests to pursue similar programs, like nursing or X-ray technology. “Ours is a course that allows the kids to go lots of different paths,” said Brownlow, speaking of the many opportunities available to his students once they graduate. Page 2
With the University of Southern Mississippi nearby, many Hattiesburg polymer students choose to pursue a university degree, something Brownlow does his best to support. “Our college articulation agreement is becoming more lined up with what we’re doing,” Brownlow said, talking about how the Polymer Science program can prepare a student for university study. USM is offering students a chance to gain two to three hours of polymer electives before they enter into the program. “One of the things we’re most proud of with our kids is that my program, unlike some of the others in the state, so close to USM, [is] that my kids can actually go over in the afternoon and work for USM and do research with the grad students and get paid for that and get credit for doing research,” Brownlow said. A student worker can get as much as 12 hours of work each week during the semester, if they desire. When school is out, those workers can get even more time in the polymer science lab. “During the summer, when they are out of school, they can actually get 40 hours a week.” Two of his current students work at USM in polymer research, offering them a chance to both expand their education and make important connections for the future. “One of the really good things about them getting the opportunity to work over at USM is that by impressing those college professors, the college professors usually have grant money that they can give to the kids for their tuition and so forth, so they can pay for them to go to school,” Brownlow said of the connections his program can offer students and their futures. Futures that look bright, as student De’Andre Stafford-May sees it. “One thing that interested me was that [the program welcomes] minority students and it’s really not a field that a lot of people [are] used to [going] into. … I thought it would be a good job opportunity,” he said, referring to his initial interest in the program. A senior graduating in 2012, Stafford-May is confident that his future career will involve polymer science, even though he is not exactly sure what he wants to do with it. And it’s no wonder. Polymer science is an expansive field. Polymers are essentially plastics and other materials that are used in everything from cosmetics, coatings, fuel cells, composites, and so much more. Over the summer while working with USM under the advisement of Professor Sergei Nazarenko, Stafford-May worked on polymers used to make sports clothing, like the ones sold by companies such as Under Armour. His experiment involved working to make the material better and more affordable. Stafford-May couldn’t hide his excitement in discussing his work. “My favorite thing to do is to do the experiment,” he said, “to actually create the material that I’m working with.” USM’s polymer program has been instrumental in preparing high school students for future careers. Stafford-May learned of the program when a USM graduate student came to work with his Polymer Science class, as part of the Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) program funded through the National Science Foundation. “We had a student come to Hattiesburg High and he told me about it,” Stafford-May explained. “So then, I thought, ‘That’s what I [want] to do.’ And I went for it.” Now he has a strong plan for his future. “I plan on possibly attending USM and doing the polymer program here,” Stafford-May said. “USM is [one of the] only schools that has an undergraduate
Building jet engines and war ships – it seems like imaginative child’s play, but this is play with a purpose. Brownlow’s aim is to place the act of learning directly in the students’ hands, getting them excited about the subject and their futures. Page 3