Across from Friendship Square, where the Bare Wires played the blues for the Farmer’s market crowd, a young boy and his friends gathered around the University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) booth. They watched intently as a volunteer studying veterinary science at Washington State University wrapped gauze around the ankle of the medium-sized dog standing on the table.
The dog, named Jake, belonged to UI junior Lizbeth Bumstead, the agricultural sciences communication and leadership major who has worked all summer to facilitate engaging and interactive science lessons for children through the UI CALS Summer of Science program.
“This is the first year this program has ever run,” Bumstead said. “The dean of our college wanted CALS to have a better connection with the community of Moscow, and we really thought a good way of doing that was becoming part of one of the most iconic things we have — the Moscow Farmer’s market.”
Summer of Science is a thirteen-week-long program that features a different subject from 9 a.m. to noon each Saturday. On its opening day June 3, the college featured entomologists, scientists who study insects. Last Saturday, the subject was veterinarian sciences.
Bumstead said all of the featured subjects have largely experienced the same amount of success, and that she quickly learned the children were more attracted to interactive displays.
“We’ve had a lot of things, like an interactive bee hive on display where kids could pick out the queen, we’ve had walking sticks crawling up the dean of our college’s arm and he’s letting kids hold them,” Bumstead said. “Today we have a dog just hanging out.”
UI junior Kendelle Puga volunteered to participate in last Saturday’s Summer of Science booth. Puga, an animal and veterinary science major, said she knew she wanted to work with animals from a young age. She said her favorite part of volunteering was watching the excitement of the children grow as they learned more about the work for which she has a passion.
“There was a kid that came earlier and he knew all about what things were,” Puga said. “He asked if he could use the stethoscope to hear the dog’s heart. Seeing him so excited about getting to do these things hands-on was really cool.”
Bumstead, the program’s intern, has worked at the Summer for Science booth for the past 12 weeks. She said currently, over 500 children are signed up for the program, and about 80 to 100 children are at the booth every week. Bumstead said she has loved watching the program grow, as well as seeing how it has helped the college connect with the community.
“The best part so far is week after week seeing more of these families and seeing the same kids every week,” Bumstead said. “We definitely have a group of around 50 kids that are here every single Saturday. It’s really great to connect with the community and to see first-hand how successful the program is becoming.”
The final Summer of Science booth will be open from 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday at the Moscow Farmer’s market.
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CorrBond