Atkins Offers Learning Adventures Galore for Students Interested in BioTechnology, Engineering, Science

Terry Howerton, Kayci Nielson, Roy Hedgecough

For 10^th-grader Kayci Nielson, going to Atkins Academic/Technology High School is a way to get a jump on the career she plans in chemical engineering. She likes attending a school where people enjoy her chemistry jokes.

Here’s one:

Q: “Why do chemists call helium, curium and barium the medical elements?

A: Because if you can't helium or curium, you barium!

On Thursday night, Nielson was one of the Atkins students who joined teachers at the school for an informal open house to introduce its offerings to potential students. Roy Hedgecough - there with his parents, Amanda and Alan Hedgecough - was one of those who dropped by. Roy is still in elementary school – he’s a fifth-grader at Piney Grove Elementary - but he and his parents are already pondering potential paths to take through middle and high school.

“He likes science so this sounded like fun,” said Amanda Hedgecough.

Stationed at their classrooms throughout the building, teachers offered visitors tastes of such things as crime-scene investigation, computer animation and “cool chemistry.” In biotechnology coordinator Terry Howerton’s classroom, Roy discovered messages written with invisible ink and tackled other crime-related tasks. When Howerton and Nielson commented on how quickly he caught on, Roy said, “My mom watches a lot of cop shows.”

Tyler Gray and Roy check out the dry ice.

At present, Atkins has about 400 students – 150 freshmen, 110 sophomores, 70 juniors and 70 seniors. For students with an interest in biotechnology, engineering and such, Atkins is the place to go, said Kevin Hamilton, the school’s engineering coordinator. “We have about 20 courses that aren’t offered anywhere else.”

Ellen Palmer, who teaches biology and earth science, said, “The administration and the teachers are really committed to providing a great learning environment.” 

Elsewhere in the building, a rumor was circulating that Palmer was making ice cream – in a scientific way, of course – in her classroom. Those rumors proved unfounded. But she did have dry ice in water, a combination that produced bubbles that were fun to watch and poke.

There in Palmer’s room could be found ninth-grader Tyler Gray, who envisions becoming an aircraft-maintenance officer in the Air Force. He likes the school’s hands-on approach, he said. “I like taking stuff apart and working on it,” Tyler said. “It’s my hands-on school. More hands, less paper.”

And should you be wondering why chemistry jokes aren’t snappier, it’s because all the good ones argon.