The CHEX Lending Library is a far-reaching program. In the past year, a total of 3,560 students have used our kits including 1,011 underrepresented minority students and 1,770 female students. The Lending Library provides students with the opportunity to interact with lessons and kits they would not otherwise have access to.
Rebecca, an experienced teacher at Cortland High School in New York State, sent us a heartfelt thank you note (after implementing the DNA Profiling Lab) that read in part:
“I wish you could see my students in person when their faces light up throughout this memorable experience -it is truly one they will never forget.”
The praise for our kits and program comes from so many of our teachers. Asked whether everything worked as described in the lab and whether there is anything we can do to improve the kit, we get answers such as “It worked perfectly” “This is a fully comprehensive kit and I love the supplementary reading material” “The students thoroughly enjoyed this lab and were engaged for the entire 2 class periods” ”I appreciate the ability to borrow the kits to solidify the gel electrophoresis technique in the minds of my students” “It is perfect the way it is” “This kit is amazing the way it is and the students LOVE it!”
During the 2021-2022 school year the Lending Library received 242 teacher requests, which was more than the requests received during the two previous school years combined. 32 different kits were requested. These requests came from teachers as far as California, Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. The most requested kits were DNA Profiling (in Biology) with 16 requests and the Foutan Boards and the Measuring the Speed of Light (in Physics) with 5 requests each. The Foutan Boards is, consistently, one of the top Physics kits. Patricia, one of our top teachers in Virginia, wrote that upon the use of the Foutan Boards “students were very surprised that the series bulb was brighter than the parallel bulbs, which sparked a great class discussion. So much fun.”