Science club honors Jim Anderson

With so much accomplished, it is hard to believe that the Sisters Science Club has only been active for one year.

Last week the Sisters Science Club held its Founders' Dinner at Depot Café to review the past year's activities and share plans for the future.

The evening started with President Bob Collins honoring Jim Anderson as "Sisters' Premier Scientist."

Anderson has worked continuously as a naturalist for over 50 years, starting with an early and lasting interest in golden eagles. He taught for many years at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry before establishing permanent residence in Sisters, where he writes a weekly nature column in The Nugget, volunteers in schools and is an active member of Friends of the Sisters Library.

The club presented Jim with a fossil of a trilobite, a crab-like animal that lived 500 million years ago, before the continents drifted apart. (Anderson acknowledges that that was a little before his time).

Anderson proudly displayed his award, but he noted that, "They made a mistake. It says premier scientist. It should say premier fossil."

The animal lived for 300 million years and diversified into 17,000 species before becoming extinct. It is credited with developing the compound eye that later became incorporated into mammals and birds.

Members of the club's board reviewed activities for the past year that included establishing an astronomy sky-dome in the high school; starting an outside speaker's program; hosting a three-month display of the OMSI Brain Teaser 2 exhibit; and putting on a one-day Science Fair.

The club sent science teachers to a National Science Teachers conference, and sent high school biology students to the Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for 3 days of experiments. The club members completed renovations of the Middle School greenhouse in May for the school to prepare curricula for healthy living.

The final event of the year was the arrival of Portland's Casey Eye Institute's outreach van. In addition to bringing scientific exhibits and giving a public lecture, Casey doctors also provided free eye exams for 70 people from underserved areas.

Superintendent Jim Golden was attending a conference out of town, but spoke to the club from a video and outlined six goals for next year.

• Continue community- wide science talks;

• Continue student field trips to professional science labs;

• Continue teacher professional development in the sciences;

• Develop a science classroom (Discovery Lab) in Sisters Elementary School;

• Create another - and even better - Science Fair.

The response of the Sisters community this first year in attending lectures and supporting school events was robust and rewarding, according to club members. Citizens, teachers, parents and many organizations (e.g., Kiwanis; Rotary; Sisters Park & Recreation District; The Roundhouse Foundation; Sisters Garden Club) came together to enhance science and math in Sisters schools.