As a way to help build for the future of toxicology, I have been fortunate to have opportunities to invest some of my time supporting strong STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education for young students. The goal of STEM education is the development of competency and application of knowledge versus acquisition of knowledge, and it strives to provide a sense of relevance. Therefore, early focus on career connections is important to give students an internalized sense of purpose for exploration and discovery in science and math, because it raises awareness of what future jobs entail. These interactions with scientists early in education can have long-lasting impacts on a student’s education trajectory.
I work with kindergarten to 3rd grade students on a variety of disciplines, but primarily math and science, and have had the joy of observing the impact on their education. They have been exposed to physiology and anatomy with chicken wing dissections, to the environmental sciences by focusing on vermicomposting, to mathematical predictions with the Vitruvian man, and to the general scientific process and experimental recordkeeping. I've received emails and texts from parents letting me know how excited their kids have been from the activities. The experiments always generate discussion from the students about jobs they may want to do someday and about what I do in my job (particularly how I learned to dissect a chicken wing). The students are thinking even in kindergarten about how what they learn in school affects what they will do one day as an adult.
The more I work with elementary students, the more it is clear that it is the foundation on which the rest of the student's education, academic success, and future depends. It is interesting the emphasis the scientific community places on early life stage chemical exposure and response through children's health initiatives, but we often do not place the same level of importance on beneficial activities during those early stages of education. Students do not drop out of education in high school; they drop out of education in elementary school and wait until they are in high school to leave the system. The Society of Toxicology has numerous opportunities and resources for our membership to interact with their surrounding communities and impact the education and future of K–12 students. The rewards from the interactions may be immeasurable, but we are equipping the students, as well as their parents, with knowledge about their environment and their health regardless of their future career aspirations.