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Hendrix BCMB Club Awarded Outreach Grant

CONWAY, Ark. (July 28, 2014) – The Hendrix Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BCMB) club recently received a Undergraduate Affiliate Network (UAN) Public Outreach Committee POC (POC) outreach grant from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB).

The goal of the program is to increase the involvement of UAN chapters (the Hendrix BCMB club is a UAN chapter) in science outreach activities. 

“Our club has been trying to establish a more active outreach program and, this spring, members of our club, led by Dakota Pouncey ’15, Martha Kellems ’15, and John Pennington ’16, wrote an application for the outreach grant,” said Hendrix biology professor Dr. Rick Murray, chair of the Hendrix BCMB program.

“In our grant application, we proposed to set up an outreach program with a local high school with the goal of helping their students improve their test scores in basic science courses,” Murray said. “Our plan is to go to the school once a week during the academic year and have our undergraduate students host tutoring sessions as well as make presentations on their research to help the high school students develop an appreciation for science. 

“We have set up a partnership with Wonderview High School in Hattieville, which is about 30 miles northwest of Conway, and we have been working with Marja Davis, one of the science teachers there, to establish this program,” he said. “We hope that this will be an enjoyable experience for our students and will help the students at Wonderview gain a stronger background in science.”

Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in engaged liberal arts and sciences education. For the sixth consecutive year, Hendrix was named one of the country’s “Up and Coming” liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report.  Hendrix is featured in the latest edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges, as well as the 2014 Princeton Review’s The Best 378 Colleges, Forbes magazine's list of America's Top Colleges, and the 2014 Fiske Guide to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.