CONWAY, Ark. (June 15, 2010) – Dozens of Conway children recently participated in Hendrix’s Ridin’ Dirty With Science program, a popular, hands-on science camp designed to show young students the fun elements of science. The program, in its fourth year, is made possible by the college’s Your Hendrix Odyssey program, along with a partnership with the Faulkner County Boys and Girls Club.
This year’s leaders, Hendrix students Allyson Keen of Mt. Juliet, Tenn.; Tyler Lewis of Hot Springs; Kimberly Pollard of Conway; and Anna Sciortino of Dallas, Texas, organized a group of Hendrix student volunteers to engage, entertain and educate children, grades 4-8 from the Boys and Girls Club of Faulkner County, in modern science experiments, according to Liz Gron, the faculty advisor of Ridin’ Dirty With Science since the program’s origination in 2007.
As in previous years, the students worked with bacteria in the environment, getting caught “dirty handed,” and extracting sustainable oil products from orange peels, Gron said. Another project, “Throw Barbie from the Balcony,” adds physics to the science core, allowing the students to investigate the necessary attributes of a parachute to get Barbie (or other selected dolls or action figures) safely to the ground.
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is featured in the 2010 edition of the Princeton Review as one of the country’s best 371 colleges, was identified as the nation’s top “Up and Coming” liberal arts college for 2010 by U.S. News and World Report, and is ranked among 44 “Best Buy” colleges by the 2010 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit
www.hendrix.edu.