Science was probably not the most popular subject among Ohio State students when they were in elementary school. Fortunately for the younger generation, OSU is helping to make science fun for Columbus Public Schools.

“Wonders of our World is a highly successful science outreach program,” said Susan Olesik, a professor in the Department of Chemistry, as well as director of W.O.W.

The W.O.W. staff, made up of OSU student volunteers, industry and parent volunteers, creates hands-on experiments to help increase student knowledge and interest in science, according to Olesik on the W.O.W. Web site.

OSU student volunteers have a good time helping kids.

“I’ve been on four trips now and I really enjoy it,” said Cody Nofzinger, a sophomore in physics, in an e-mail. “The experiments are fun and usually surprise the kids. Some of the concepts are hard for them to pick up, but I think the W.O.W. staff designs the experience in a way that even the younger kids can understand.”

Anne Starkey, a junior in biology and W.O.W. volunteer for the last two years, just loves getting kids into science.

“Many of the local Columbus schools do not have the resources or man power for stimulating science experiments,” she said in an e-mail. “It really feels good when you leave a classroom feeling that the students actually learned something about science.”

W.O.W. is one of many educational outreach programs backed by the P-12 Project, a program meant to improve education in Ohio schools.

“We are a land grant institution,” said Nancy Nestor-Baker, the director of the P-12 Project. “Much of what we are about is to improve the lives of Ohioans.”

Nestor-Baker said she believes the best way to accomplish that is by furthering education.

The P-12 Project attempts this by “acting as a single point of contact between the university, schools and communities,” according to a pamphlet provided by the P-12 Project. The pamphlet also states P-12 starts and supports projects and research dealing with school improvement, student achievement and teacher professional development from preschool through high school.

“The university has a large presence in P-12 education,” Nestor-Baker said. “It has always been part of who we are as a university.”

Despite this, it is difficult to explain what P-12 is about because it has such a broad approach.

“It’s difficult to explain,” Nestor-Baker said. “There’s always a new project and new ideas.”

The W.O.W. project is a great example of some of the ideas P-12 works on.

What P-12 mostly does is start programs like W.O.W. and get them running, then backs off to let the volunteers and the schools they are helping carry on, said Nestor-Baker.

“It’s hard to let go of something that I am particularly passionate about,” she said of starting the programs.

P-12 tries to facilitate a lot of different groups to get involved with schools and let them become immersed in one another, she said.

“It’s not just the education department,” Nestor-Baker added. “Each one of the colleges are involved in some way, shape or form.”

Students can get involved as mentors or volunteers, she said.

Volunteering for any of the P-12 programs could be a good experience that lasts a student’s entire college career.

“It’s a great program and I’ll probably be a part of it until I graduate,” Nofzinger of W.O.W said.

Students can visit p12.osu.edu for news, events and ways to get involved.

Everdeen Mason can be reached at [email protected].