Supplementing Biology Instruction at Purnell Swett High School: A Service-Learning Project

Through the support of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and Purnell Swett High School, I completed my senior service learning project. At Purnell Swett High School, I tutored tenth grade students in biology. Many of the students that attended the tutoring sessions each week were experiencing difficulty in the course material. My goals of the tutoring sessions were the following: enhance the understanding of the biology course material, assist in test preparation and End of Course preparation, demonstrate and discuss study strategies, and encourage students to strive toward higher education. Many Purnell Swett High School tenth grade students were able to come to UNCP campus to participate in a few abbreviated laboratory experiments. In the chemistry lab, I designed an acid and base laboratory protocol that consisted of a few mini-experiments. The goals of the hands-on laboratory experiments were to allow the students to experience a college laboratory, learn about acid base reactions, relate acid and base reactions to the human biochemistry, and become prepared and excited for eleventh grade chemistry. Overall, the goal of this service-learning project was to positively impact the local community of Pembroke, Purnell Swett High School students, and strengthen the relationship between the UNCP and local public schools