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Student project opens 'Gateway' to cleaner air BOWLING GREEN, O. -- The work of some Maumee middle-school students has not only prompted change at their school but it has
also earned them a seat at the table when the Maumee Board of Education, administrators and architects devise broader plans
for school remodeling.
The students, from Gateway Middle School, participate in Project EXCITE-Environmental health science eXplorations through
Cross-disciplinary and Investigative Team Experiences--coordinated through Bowling Green State University.
The results of their two-year study of Gateway's environmental health, along with studies by students from five other school
districts, will be presented at EXCITE's second annual Environmental Science Colloquium, on Wednesday, May 28, at COSI in
downtown Toledo.
An iMovie the Maumee students made about their research will be among the multimedia presentations at the event, said Amy
Boros, the program manager for EXCITE, which is funded by a seven-year, $1.72 million grant from the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences. "The whole point is for students to find real, important and timely issues," Boros said.
The Gateway students did just that when they tried to determine whether their 65-year-old building suffers from "Sick School
Syndrome." The resulting recommendations varied, but their findings prompted modifications to school maintenance, including
more frequent filter changes in air-handling units and classrooms, and summer roof repairs.
Following Maumee voters' approval this month of a 5.24-mill bond issue for district-wide renovation and construction, the
students have been invited to share their ideas with school leaders as they plan for the future.
Students from Bowling Green Junior High School and two Youngstown elementary schools also studied their building environments
for Project EXCITE, which brings BGSU and Medical College of Ohio scientists into classrooms for grades 4-8. They will also
be among some 100 presenters at 5 p.m. public event. Other participants include students from Springfield Middle School, Rossford
and Anthony Wayne junior highs.
(Posted May 06, 2003 )
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