Taking the Children to Work

Today's guest blog comes from Jill Blair-Smith, a writer in the Office of Communications on the Downers Grove Campus of Midwestern University.

This week, Midwestern University welcomed more than 65 children on the Downers Grove Campus as part of the annual Take of Daughters and Sons to Work Day. The event was sponsored by the Human Resources Department.

I brought my two children Adam, 8, and Amelia, 11, to the event where we rotated through a half day of activities coordinated by the College of Health Sciences. After receiving hats and t-shirts, enjoying a healthy breakfast, and listening to welcomes from Angela Marty, P.H.R., Vice President of Human Resources & Administration, and Jacquelyn M. Smith, Ph.D., Dean, College of Health Sciences, we went to our first activity of the day which was seeing a DVD about a day in the life of MWU students in the osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, and physician assistant programs.

Then, it was off to a cell demonstration where we learned about cancer cells and how faculty members in the Biomedical Sciences Program culture and study cells. We even learned that cells need to be fed every three days.

Amelia practices using a pipette to transfer the "cell food."

Adam looks at cells under a microscope.

Next, we explored x-rays with members of the Physician Assistant Program where we learned to compare x-rays and spot broken bones. By far, the most exciting session for my children was conducted by the Physical Therapy (PT) department. In addition to learning about PT's contributions to healthcare, the children got to go through an obstacle course. The faculty explained that PTs try to make rehabilitation fun by incorporating games.

The balance board was one of the first challenges in the obstacle course.

Walking on the Woggler takes strength, balance, and agility.

Overall, it was a great day. As we were heading to lunch Adam said, "Mom, you work at a really interesting place." Thanks honey, I think so too.