Illinois National Finalist
April 25, 2013
DePue is being recognized as a national, and only Illinois, finalist in the Siemen's "We Can Change the World Challenge". According to the We Can Change website, "...the program teaches students in grades 9-12 to be stewards of the environment while empowering them to enhance their fundamental and 21st century skills." It promotes strengthening learning in core areas of science curriculum by implementing a project-based learning approach. Winners and finalist can be viewed on the website including:
TEAM NAME: Little Giants-Orange
LOCATION: DePue, Illinois
SCHOOL: DePue Unit School
TEACHER/MENTOR: Keith Garcia
DESCRIPTION: Our project included investigation into, and encapsulation of heavy metals to reduce the risk of their re-introduction or migration into disturbed freshwater, posing human and environmental risk. We were able to conclude from our two bench experiments that the paraffin wax had a mean reduction of all metals at 90%. The next phase would include another scale-up using the same procedure.
The News Tribune was here to acquire details on this accomplishment today and Univision is expected to be here for an interview tomorrow. We are proud to acknowledge these great accomplishments and will continue to include updated articles and video to follow in the coming weeks.
*Update 4/29/2013 News Tribune article can be accessed here.
We are looking for students to volunteer to help maintain the DePue Legacy Garden. We're using VolunteerSpot to schedule our dates and activities.
