Five scientists visited the high school to teach students about careers in cardiology during the Scientist-in-Residence event Thursday, Feb. 13.
The speakers included Dr. Matthew Henn, a cardiac surgeon; Cindy Tyson, Nursing Supervisor for Bexley City Schools; Zianne Olverson, a graduate student at OSU; Dr. Joy Walker, a vascular surgeon; and Dr. Karen Texter, a pediatric cardiologist.
Science teacher Scott Logsdon said students had the opportunity to attend the event during their science
classes, and the scientists visited two classrooms and the library.
“The focus was to bring alumni back that have created quite a splash in their field of science to talk to our
students,” Logsdon said.
Logsdon explained the event was created by Bexley alumnus Dr. Judah Folkman, a cancer researcher and chief surgeon at Children’s Hospital Boston, along with other Bexley alumni who have also had successful careers. These alumni created an endowment to fund the program, he added.
“It was set aside for the Bexley Education Foundation to be able to generate funds to bring in scientists to speak,” he explained.
This endowment has been used to fund many different ways to bring scientists to Bexley, Logsdon added.
“Some of that over the past has been used to fly people in from California, provide meals, a place to stay and all of those kinds of things,” he explained.
Logsdon added scientists from a range of fields have come back to speak each year, and this year’s were all centered around the cardiology field due to February being Heart Health Month. The science department and the BEF found scientists to bring in based on the theme of the heart.
Dr. Matthew Henn, a cardiac surgeon at Ohio State University’s Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital and a 2001 Bexley graduate, was among the scientists who visited.
Henn said his experience as a student listening to scientists influenced him to come back and speak about his career.
“I vividly remember what it was like to sit there and have folks come talk to us,” he explained. “The op-
portunity to give back was a no brainer for me.”
Along with discussing his own career, Henn talked about various jobs within his field of cardiology.
All the scientists talked about job opportunities within their teams, which could inspire additional students interested in the medical field, Logsdon added.
“You don’t have to go to school for 17 years to get into this field,” he said. “You can be part of a team that’s also there with the surgeon.”
Junior Jake Peacock said the event was enjoyable and supports his learning of science.
“Part of the reason we learn science is to do science as a job, so to hear someone talk about it and be passionate about it is very helpful if that is something you are pursuing as a career,” he said.
