HUNTINGTON -- They build a digestive system from a paper model. They do online surgery. They even conduct a urinalysis test -- with the real stuff.
Students who participate in the Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA) Summer Institute get a slew of experience they might not get in their traditional high school science classes.
And the program is growing. About 180 ninth- and 10th-grade students from throughout West Virginia are on Marshall's campus this week learning about health sciences -- diabetes in particular.
The program is called "Fun with Science," and it's one of a handful of HSTA camps offered throughout the state during the summertime.
HSTA is an international program that is community-based and provides academic enrichment. Its goal is to increase the number of underrepresented and minority students who continue their education after college. Those include African-American students, as well as those from low-income families and/or rural areas, and those who would be the first generation of their families to go to college.
"Some of these students would not be exposed (to academic opportunities like the camp) if not for HSTA," said Denise Arline, a HSTA teacher from Raleigh County. "Without this program, a lot of them may not even think about going to college."
A long-term goal of the program is for those students to enter health professions and remain in West Virginia as primary caregivers.
HSTA is offered in 26 West Virginia counties, where students participate in clubs at their high schools year-round. Summer camps include the science camp at Marshall, as well as a forensics camp at West Virginia State University, and a math and engineering camp at West Virginia University, Arline said.
She said the program is great. For example, the schedule the kids have to follow this week will teach them some study skills and discipline that they'd use in college. The camps also give students summertime opportunities to enhance their critical thinking skills, which they'll put to use in high school and college. They get to meet other students with the same interests and have a college campus experience early in their high school careers.
"I wanted to come to see how a college campus is," said freshman Brian Critchfield of Fairmont, who has visited WVU's campus but never spent a week at a college campus. Science is his favorite subject. "I want to be a zoologist," Critchfield said.
The number of participating students more than doubled from 80 last year because 10th-graders are now included, as opposed to just freshmen in past years.
This year, the emphasis at the Marshall HSTA camp is on diabetes.
According to the West Virginia Diabetes Prevention and Control Program, about 256,000 West Virginians had diabetes in 2006, or about 12 percent of the population. About 85,000 of those have it and don't even know it, the organization reports on its Web site.
"We want to make children aware of the lifestyle changes they can make (to help prevent) diabetes," said David Cartwright, HSTA's program director at Marshall and an instructor at Marshall Community and Technical College. Not only will they benefit by knowing how to best take care of themselves, but they can take that information home with them and pass it on to their families, Cartwright said.
Monday morning, students built a digestive system model. They also researched and talked about nutrition and fad diets, Arline said.
"They were actively involved. I was very impressed," Arline said.
Adam Swolsky, an anatomy instructor at MCTC, is participating in the camp for the second year. Not only does he hope that the students take away some important information about how to lower their risks for preventable diabetes, but he hopes to ignite their interest in science.
They seem to be enthusiastic, he said. Last year, when he told them they'd be doing a urinalysis test, "I was worried that nobody would touch it," he said. "But they really got into it."
These are students who are really interested in learning what they can, Arline said.
One is Chelsie Barker, a freshman from Preston County. At 14, she's aspiring to be an anesthesiologist, and the reasons she wanted to attend the HSTA camp are pretty simple.
"I wanted to explore the college and do math and science," she said.
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