Allentown School District Summer Partnership Program in the Library

Summer sessions in Andruss Library are usually quieter than fall and spring semesters, but this summer has been much livelier. Several programs for high school students and summer freshmen have made productive use of library space and resources, including a group of nineteen rising high school seniors in the Allentown School District Summer Partnership Program. ASD students working under the direction of Dr. Angela Hess came to the Library in mid-July to research and design posters about a human disease or disorder and to present and answer questions about their research in a poster session. 

Most researchers spend weeks preparing posters, and these students had only three days in the Library from July 14-16. The students fearlessly jumped in, using resources made available on a website designed by Health Sciences Librarian Linda Neyer. They spent their first day researching topics and planning their posters, and the next two days busily working on their design and layout, sitting on the floor and using every counter on the second floor. Everyone finished in time to present their posters on July 17^th to one other and to judges Dr. Hess, Ms. Neyer, and the Program Assistants. Students' enthusiasm was contagious: two young women used their best Vanna White hand movements to attract viewers to their poster on autism. Competition was stiff, and all deserved an award. Not only did they select and distill the most important information for their posters, but also they used appealing graphics to convey their information. The judges were unanimous: first prize went to the students with the poster on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, who used real leaves stapled to a drawing of a vine to graphically illustrate the growth in understanding of PTSD. 

Following are some photos of the students in the library, busily working on their posters, and in Hartline, presenting their posters: