Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 21, 2015 15A
Polk County Schools/Education
WOU students putting
fitness to the real test
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Fitness
is more than just a number
on the scale or the reflection
in a mirror.
It’s about body composi-
tion, risk factors, lifestyle and
aerobic endurance — and
there’s a science behind it all.
Students at Western Ore-
gon University work in a
modern exercise science lab,
getting hands-on training
on how to help their future
clients and patients achieve
better overall health, not just
a smaller pants size.
Equipment used to meas-
ure fitness includes a meta-
bolic cart and a bio pod. The
cart can measure a person’s
aerobic endurance, metab-
olism and carbon dioxide-
oxygen exchange, among
other things.
The bio pod determines a
person’s body composition
very accurately, as well as
metabolism and calories
burned versus calories con-
sumed, allowing for accurate
counseling on weight con-
trol programs rather than re-
lying on guesswork, said
Tom Kelly, WOU assistant
professor of exercise science.
“We’re learning how to
test people to see if they’re
healthy enough for exercise,
identifying risk factors for
c a rd i ova s c u l a r h e a l t h ,
lifestyle, blood cholesterol,”
said Tyler Crawford, exercise
science major.
Through the tests, he will
be able to tell if a client
needs to see a doctor before
a workout regimen can be
prescribed and how intense
that program can be.
Kelly said students in the
program focus on a variety
of things, including pre-
med, pre-physical therapy,
pre-occupational therapy
and cardiac rehabilitation.
The exercise science lab
provides students with
hands-on, high-tech learn-
ing, Kelly said.
Jared Holloway, a senior
in exercise science, wants to
become a strength and con-
ditioning coach. Hands-on
experience is more effective
than pouring over tomes, he
said.
Regina Bishop, a senior in
exercise science, will work
as a physician’s assistant to
help people prevent disease
through fitness and nutri-
tion, though it isn’t what she
thought she would do.
“When I came here, I was
a psychology major,” she
said. “Through some mishap,
I got into this program. I
found myself enrolled in an
advanced nutrition class over
the summer and thought,
‘these are my people.’”
The exercise science lab
is exciting for research, Kelly
said.
“They (students) come in
here, and you can see how
you can change people’s
lives with cardiac rehab or
avoiding those diseases.
(Students) get motivated.”
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
LaCreole Middle School science teacher Ken Guffey (seated) and other teachers on a
tour of PGE’s Smart Power Center react to the sounds of the center powering on.
TEACHING TECHNOLOGY
Local educators get hands-on STEM experience
that should benefit students in their classrooms
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
Assistant professor Tom Kelly prepares Jared Holloway to take a fitness test on the
treadmill using a metabolic cart, which can identify a variety of health factors.
Central Class of 2016 may
not have to present projects
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — Cen-
tral High School juniors
may not need to worry
about putting together a
senior project next year,
pending decisions from the
school board.
It’s a step toward aligning
Central’s graduation re-
quirements with those out-
lined by the state, Principal
Greg Mitchell said.
The senior project was
started as an answer to the
state’s requirement that
graduates have “personal-
ized learning.”
“It’s something that we
built around extended ap-
plication requirements,” he
said. “They (Oregon Depart-
ment of Education) don’t
give you a lot of informa-
tion. We had to make it up.”
The idea behind senior
projects was for students to
use the skills they learned in
school, Mitchell said.
For example, a student
who wanted to pursue natu-
ral sciences might go out
and clean up wetlands, he
explained.
“That’s not what was hap-
pening,” Mitchell said. “Kids
will say, ‘I want to be an en-
gineer.’ Then they’d rent out
the Elks (Lodge) and host a
dance as a fundraiser for
something.”
Other changes suggested
for the CHS diploma in-
volve credit requirements.
Currently, Central graduates
are required to take four
credits of social studies
classes. The state only re-
quires three.
The state requires three
credits in a second lan-
guage, arts, or career and
technical education. The
district specifies that one of
those three be spent in col-
lege preparation computers.
Mitchell said college prep
computers may have been
necessary 10 years ago, but
is not very forward-think-
ing, and severely limits the
business-based classes the
high school can offer.
Removing the require-
ment to take college prepa-
ration computers and low-
ering the social studies
credits would get Central’s
credit requirements in
alignment with the state,
Mitchell said.
The school board heard
Mitchell’s presentation at its
Jan. 13 meeting, but nothing
was set in stone. The
changes and timeline will
be ironed out in the next
month, he said.
“It would be most effec-
tive to happen next year, the
graduating class of next year
(2016),” Mitchell said.
SALEM — A few clicks of a
mouse and what is essential-
ly a five-megawatt “battery”
is online.
LaCreole Middle School
science teacher Ken Guffey is
at the controls — really a
computer and series of mon-
itors at PGE’s Smart Power
Center in Salem.
Guffey and three other
LaCreole math and science
teachers were participating
in South Metro-Salem STEM
Partnership’s PGE STEM (sci-
ence, technology, engineer-
ing and math) Workshop on
Friday. The workshop in-
cluded a series of tours and
presentations demonstrating
how teachers can show stu-
dents “real world” connec-
tions to the lessons they
teach in class.
Teachers from three school
districts — Dallas, Newberg
and Salem-Keizer — joined
the all-day workshop.
On the power center tour,
it was the teachers’ curiosity
that was piqued, especially
at the end when Guffey was
given the opportunity to flip
the power switch on the
smart grid.
The first step — turning
on the center’s bank of lithi-
um-ion batteries — ends in a
series of pops.
“Hear that noise?” said
Kevin Whitener, PGE engi-
neer and Smart Grid Project
manager. “Ken is connecting
the whole system.”
“I’ve got the power!” Guf-
fey said, smiling.
“He does, he has five
m e g a w a t t s o f p ow e r,”
Whitener said.
The Smart Power Center is
part of a five-year demon-
stration project developing
technology in energy stor-
age, integrating renewable
energy, and creating better
power plant efficiency. It is
an example of the type of
technology the energy in-
dustry would like to imple-
ment nationwide — as well
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JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Kevin Whitener, right, the Smart Grid Project manager,
leads a tour through the center’s battery bank on Friday.
It was part of an all-day STEM workshop for teachers.
as one of the innovative ca-
reer pathways science, math
and engineering students
have open to them.
Guffey, along with Dallas
High School teacher Lee
Jones and Whitworth Ele-
mentary School fourth-grade
teacher Brian Williamson,
are part of a consortium
working to develop a STEM
program in the Dallas School
District. LaCreole’s math and
science instructors also will
develop ways to use what
they learned Friday in the
classroom.
Teachers spent Friday
morning taking a virtual tour
of Sanyo Solar of Oregon,
PGE’s smart plant, and Cov-
anta Energy in Brooks. In the
afternoon, teachers attended
workshops on sample les-
sons and how to adapt them
to their classrooms.
Guffey said what STEM
lessons will look like at
LaCreole is a work in
progress, but learning about
possible career applications
— and being able to share
that with students — is a big
first step.
“Having an outside facility
that you can talk with is real-
ly important,” Guffey said.
“That’s what I lack — that
‘Hey guys, this is how you are
going to use this stuff we are
trying to teach you.’”
PGE, and other science
and technology-heavy in-
dustries, sees partnerships
with schools as crucial to its
future. Teachers like those
who took the tour Friday will
play a critical role in shaping
its workforce, said PGE
spokeswoman Melanie Moir.
“It’s neat to see the teach-
ers engaging and thinking
about what they will bring
back to their classrooms
about that real-world experi-
ence,” Moir said. “The teach-
ers are the ones who are
going to reach the students
and we see the students as
the workforce of our future.
Opportunity abounds as
long as our students are
properly prepared.”
She said technology in-
dustries will soon be calling
on those students.
“We see a wave of retire-
ments coming,” she said,
adding there is already more
demand for workers than
what can be filled.
Math and science teachers
in Dallas hope to develop
programs that will better
prepare their students to fill
that void.
“Honestly, having the in-
formation is the first part of
it,” Guffey said. “The next
part is trying to figure out
how to integrate it. We are
going to sit down as a team
and figure out what we can
do now.”