Uni students and faculty made their annual trip to Booker T. Washington STEM elementary school in Champaign in April to lead students in activities celebrating St. Elmo Brady, a chemist who was the first African American to earn a PhD in chemistry in the United States. Brady earned the degree at the University of Illinois in 1915.
Each year, Uni students plan and teach water-related lessons and activities around Earth Day to share with kindergarten through fifth grade students. This year, kindergarten and first grade students enjoyed having Uni students and faculty lead them in activities such as painting rock bugs, water relays, and seed starting. Second and third grade students made maracas from recycled materials with the Orchestra Outreach Club, made paper flowers, and worked on a tower-building design challenge. Older students worked with teams of Uni students to clean up Douglass park, make balloon-powered cars, and learn about bioluminescence.
The event is organized by Uni’s Coordinator of Equity and Public Engagement, Valerie
O’Brien.