For the last 14 years, students in Applied Med have participated in a project called “Sweet Tooth Science.” For this project, students are challenged to research a disease or condition, create a trifold presentation, distribute informational brochures, make a sweet treat and present to guest judges.
Students spend a few weeks collaborating with their peers and examining submissions from the past years before bringing their projects to life. Inclined to create an inventive and new submission, students like Rylee Nugent devoted many hours to the project, working inside and outside of school with a determination to win.
“We spent every class working on it, as well as several hours spent in the public library, and even an entire day at my house constructing our poster board and baking our desserts,” Nugent said. “I would guess that we spent probably close to 35 hours or more total putting this project all together.”
Acknowledging their diligence and hard work, Applied Med teacher Susan Speirs hopes that their work will benefit them in the future as well.
“I am so very thankful and in awe of all the current and past Applied Med students for their passion for learning, sharing their creativity, risking new with their intellectual curiosity and using this course as a springboard for their future learning journey,” Speirs said.
Over the years, Sweet Tooth Science has become more than just a project, it is a true learning experience for Applied Med students. Sweet Tooth Science opens the door for students to go into depth about their learning in an unusual medium, and to share with people who might not get an opportunity to learn about it otherwise.
“The students loved the idea of having a platform much like the performing arts and sports teams do when showcasing their craft on the stage, in a frame, or on the playing field,” Speirs said. “There is something special about being able to share intellectual, research findings with adults.”
Students acknowledge the difficulty of the project and the opportunity to express their creativity while being in an academic environment as much as Speirs does. While the project took up a lot of time and was difficult, Nugent is grateful for the unique experience it brought her.
“I will say this project was a lot of work, but overall I would love to do it again in the future,” Nugent said. “It was stressful trying to get it all done in time, but once it was done and the presentation was over, it made it all so worth it. This was such a fun thing to do in a class as it had such a fun spin to it that isn’t seen in other classes.”
With the project being around for over a decade now, Speirs has seen a multitude of Sweet Tooth Science projects. However, she believes that every year Sweet Tooth Science improves and that with each year, she likes the projects more than the last.
“Each year becomes my favorite for a variety of reasons. There are, and have been, so many creative and exceptional Sweet Tooth Science projects over the years.”
