The spirit of eagles

General Article
June 20, 2002

HutchLab teams with American Indian and Alaskan native students for hands-on science education

With the help of her teacher, Marisa Viloria (left), Chief Leschi High School student Paree James examines results of her experiment. Photo by Caren Brinkema

By BRAD BROBERG

Discovery is the essence of science.

And so when HutchLab, the Spirit of EAGLES and the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board discovered each other, they created a chemistry with the potential to change - and eventually save - lives.

Their collaboration produced the Northwest Tribal Science Education Project, a pilot program that brought American Indian and Alaskan native (AI/AN) high-school students to the center to learn more about careers in science and medicine.

Offered twice last month, the HutchLab workshops drew students throughout Washington and Oregon. Over a day and a half, the groups performed experiments, met scientists and brainstormed ideas for more such programs.

A highlight came when participants donned white lab coats, gloves and goggles to isolate DNA from cells they gathered from inside their mouths.

Hands-on experience

"This is cool," said Sarah Stafford, a sophomore at Chief Leschi School in Puyallup and a member of the Seneca Tribe. "Hands-on experience is what's best for me."

Spirit of EAGLES (Education, Advocacy, Grants, Leadership, Elders, Survivors/Scholarship), sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, provided pilot funds. The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board recruited students and offered insight into the cultural relevance of the content. Staff from HutchLab, part of the center's Science Education Partnership, conducted lab sessions.

"I'm learning things I didn't even know existed," said Paree James, a Chief Leschi sophomore and a member of the Tlingt Tribe. "It's teaching me about career opportunities, what kind of things you can do and how you can help people."

The program was a classic example of what can happen when organizations reach out to meet needs and identify resources. As HutchLab sought ways to reach a more diverse student population, Spirit of EAGLES and the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board sought ways to expose AI/AN high school students to the world of science - thus creating the next generation of AI/AN researchers.

"It was a perfect marriage," says Nancy Zbaren, project manager for the Pacific Region of the Cancer Information Service, which helped make the match possible.

During a break in the second session, Teresa Guthrie, project coordinator for Spirit of EAGLES, noted that students in the first session "loved it." As a result, organizers didn't tinker much with the original agenda when planning the second.

Still, teen-agers will be teen-agers.

"The kids said they would have liked to enjoy Seattle while they were here, so we added a trip to the Experience Music Project," she said. "And we changed the menu for the Friday-night dinner from salmon to pizza."

Dr. Nancy Hutchison, director of the Science Education Partnership and HutchLab, hopes the Northwest Tribal Science Education Partnership becomes a model strategy for HutchLab to target special populations. She also believes the program will be a plus when HutchLab seeks to renew its funding from the National Institutes of Health next year.

Now in its fourth year, HutchLab hosts local high-school science teachers and their classes as they spend a day at the center working in the laboratory. HutchLab also offers two, one-week-long sessions for interested students during the summer.

Tailored activities

Although the Northwest Tribal Science Education Partnership incorporated regular HutchLab activities, organizers tailored it for their audience.

For example, it was important to bring together students attending the sessions with AI/AN students enrolled in academic programs focused on science and medicine. AI/AN students from the University of Washington participated in a panel that discussed the unique challenges faced by AI/AN students seeking higher education and ways to succeed. Native adults - both teachers and health-care professionals - also were invited to attend the sessions.

"Their role was way beyond being chaperones," Hutchison said. "They were active participants who will take what they learned back to their communities. What's more, they helped us think about how to shape future programs."

"They let us come and play, too. That's kind of cool," added Bill Duffy, health-occupations instructor at Roseburg (Ore.) High School who attended the program with two of his students.

Given Roseburg's location seven hours south of Seattle, students there can't easily visit places like the Hutchinson Center. That's where support from Spirit of EAGLES - which paid for food, lodging and travel expenses - proved vital.

"Our students couldn't afford to come here without that funding," Duffy said.

Marisa Viloria is a biology teacher at Chief Leschi.

"I think it's a great opportunity for the kids, but it's also a great opportunity for me as a teacher to learn some new things that I can take back into my classroom," she said. "To be able to see DNA was really great."

Keeping a grip on DNA was another matter, however. As Viloria gently shook a test tube to make her DNA emerge from suspension, she accidentally spilled the liquid on James' lab coat.

"That's OK," Viloria quipped. "We're from the same tribe."

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Ties between CIS, Indian Health Board pave way for learning

While HutchLab and Spirit of EAGLES provided the muscle and the money for the Northwest Tribal Science Education Partnership, the program owes plenty to a longstanding relationship between the Pacific Region Office of the Cancer Information Service and the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board.

That relationship helped create the chain that forged the program.

"Like dominoes, all these things fell into place," says Nancy Zbaren, CIS project director. "It's a great example of what communication can do."

The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board is an independent agency representing the 43 federally recognized tribes in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Founded in 1972, the board's 50-plus staffers help tribes improve health-care services for their members.

Over the years, that mission has sparked frequent collaborations between the board and the CIS Partnership Program, which helps agencies like the board supply current information about cancer research, treatment and prevention to underserved populations, such as American Indians and Alaskan Natives.

Three years ago, the collaborations multiplied when CIS gained a five-year contract to support Spirit of EAGLES activities in this region. Funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute to Dr. Judith Kaur (a Native American medical oncologist) of the Mayo Clinic, Spirit of EAGLES works with community agencies to raise cancer awareness among American Indians and Alaskan Natives, heighten early detection and increase participation in clinical trials.

It's an important mission. Cancer is the second leading cause of death among Native peoples and the top killer of Native women in Alaska.

One way Spirit of EAGLES hopes to change that is by boosting the American Indian and Alaskan Native researchers, scientists and medical students involved in cancer-control activities in their communities. That also is a goal of the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and its Northwest Tribal Cancer Control Project. The question for both became how to do that.

An answer came last year when Dr. Nancy Hutchison, director of the Science Education Partnership and HutchLab, read about the CIS Partnership Program. She wondered if CIS could help her reach more Hispanic, African American and Native American students with HutchLab.

As luck would have it, Fred Hutchinson was convening the first meeting of a task force designed to nurture collaborative outreach initiatives between various center departments and activities. The meeting set the stage for Hutchison to approach Zbaren and for Zbaren to begin connecting the dots. The rest is history.

"It's been truly, truly satisfying because we are all working toward common goals," said Ruth Jensen, director of the Northwest Tribal Cancer Control Project. "It's all about creating opportunities."

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