Which word has a spelling change when adding the suffix -ant?
1 defend
2 comply
3 import
4 assist
3 import
Use the text A New Direction to answer the question.
A New Direction
How did Dr. Christi Patten influence the Mayo Clinic?
The text A New Direction does not provide information on how Dr. Christi Patten influenced the Mayo Clinic.
Physician Paul Croarkin is testing
a new treatment for depression
in kids and teens, and he’s come
to a hospital advisory board for
help. He presents a slideshow
explaining his research, then asks the board
members what they think of his presentation.
He also wants to know how he could find
volunteers for his project, something he’s
had trouble doing. The board members ask
questions and give suggestions, and Croarkin,
a psychiatrist, listens carefully and plans how
to use what they tell him. But these board
members aren’t other doctors or scientists;
they’re not even adults. This board is a group
of kids ages 11 to 17. They’re the Mayo Clinic’s
Pediatric Advisory Board.
42
Why Kids?
An advisory board is a group of
volunteers who give suggestions and
guidance. A business might use an
advisory board to find out if people
like a new product. In science and
medicine, advisory boards are often
used to give recommendations and
direction on studies and projects
about health. For example, an
advisory board might suggest how a
researcher could make volunteers feel
more comfortable during a study. But
most advisory boards are made up of
adults. The Mayo Clinic’s Pediatric
Advisory Board is the first of its kind.
Why set up a board of only kids?
The Mayo Clinic already had an
adult advisory board, but more and
more topics that involved kids were
being brought to it. So Christi Patten,
a doctor at the Mayo Clinic, thought
it might be valuable to put together
a pediatric version. (Pediatric is the
medical term for kids.) After all, if
studies are focus on health topics that
affect young people, who better to ask
than the kids themselves? Patten and
other board organizers decided to run
the board just like the adult one—the
only difference would be the age of the
volunteers. A community outreach
coordinator at Mayo Clinic reached
out to teens to invite them. At first the
board organizers wanted teens ages
14 to 17. But younger kids were also
interested in joining, so they expanded
the age range down to 11.
Xavier Felder, 14, has been with
the board from its start, since April
of 2019. He says he decided to join
“because I wanted to know about
diseases and what they’re doing
about them, and new treatments.”
The young board members went
through the same training as adult
advisory boards, learning about the
rules doctors and scientists have to
follow and what the different types
of research are.
How It Works
The Pediatric Advisory Board gets
together four times a year to give
their advice to researchers. Each
meeting lasts close to two hours.
Before researchers go before the
Xavier Felder, fourth from
left in the top row, poses
with fellow members of
the Mayo Clinic Pediatric
Advisory Board.
After a presentation
to the group, Dr.
Paul Croarkin asks
for feedback on
aspects of his study
on kids and teens.
text © 2020 by Tracy Vonder Brink
43
board, they meet with the group’s
organizers to talk about how they’ll
present. They’re limited to five slides
and are reminded to make topics clear
and understandable. They might also
plan to break into smaller discussion
groups after the presentation.
Xavier says his favorite part of
the meetings is talking with the
researchers. “I like when we can ask
them questions about their topic. I get
fascinated by the different diseases
they study . . . things I’ve never heard
of before,” he says. Does talking to
doctors and scientists ever make the
kids nervous? Xavier says no. “The
first couple of times I didn’t know
everybody in the group, so we did
some ice breakers,” he explains. “Now
that I know the people in the group,
I’m not nervous. If someone else asks
a question I was thinking of, I just
think of another question.”
Helping Researchers
When Croarkin presented to the board,
he asked for suggestions on reaching
kids and teens who might want to
try his treatment for depression. He
showed the advisory board flyers he’d
THE MAYO CLINIC
The Mayo Clinic started in the 1880s
as a small clinic run by the Mayo
brothers in Rochester, Minnesota. The
brothers were surgeons, and they
wanted to create a group practice
where patients could see a team of
specialists all in one place. Within 30
years it had become known around the
world for its quality of care. Today more
than a million patients go to the Mayo
Clinic every year, and it has locations in
five states.
printed that described the treatment.
Instead of the flyers, they suggested
he use social media and places where
kids already were—like school—to
help get the word out. So he presented
to a local school board and was given
permission to post information about
his project on the school’s resource
page. He admits he wouldn’t have
thought of using a school to look
for volunteers if the group hadn’t
suggested it. “They were even more on
point with their advice than the adult
advisory board,” he says.
Physician Sarah Atunah-Jay and
health care analyst Gladys Asiedu
were also impressed by the Pediatric
Advisory Board. They’re studying
how doctors can support kids who
are bullied about their race, ethnicity,
or weight. “The board brought up
that talking about these issues can
be very stressful and wanted to know
how we’d make kids participating in
the study feel safe and supported,”
Asiedu says. Atunah-Jay adds, “They
gave great feedback on the focus
group guide and will also be involved
with data analysis.”
The Future of the
Advisory Board
Folks at the Mayo Clinic hope other
hospitals and research centers will
start their own pediatric advisory
boards. They’ve found that kids have
different experiences and insights
than grown-ups, so their feedback
is different from an adult advisory
board. For example, when AtunahJay and Asiedu presented to the
two boards, the adults wanted to
know how the study information
would be used, but the younger
group had questions about how
kids who joined the study might
be affected. Both types of feedback
are important for researchers.
Atunah-Jay explains, “Our work isn’t
valid unless we consult kids. This
is research that has an impact on
them, so they need to be involved.”
Being on the board has made
Xavier interested in a career in
science. “It opened my eyes to other
careers in science than just being a
doctor,” he says. “You can work in a
lab or be a researcher.” What would
he say to kids if a pediatric advisory
board comes to their community?
“I’d tell kids to get involved,” he says.
“If more kids join things like this,
you have more voices, so the
feedback and ideas are more diverse.
It might sound like it would be
boring, but it’s not. It’s fun, and
you get to help people.”
Tracy Vonder Brink is a writer from
Cincinnati, Ohio. She would’ve loved to join
a Pediatric Advisory Board as a kid. (What
could be cooler than learning about
science and telling researchers what to do?)
She thanks the Mayo Clinic community
members who lent their voices and
insights to this article.
How did Dr. Christi Patten influence the Mayo Clinic?
Dr. Christi Patten, along with other board organizers, set up the Mayo Clinic's Pediatric Advisory Board, which is the first of its kind. The board is made up of kids ages 11 to 17 and provides suggestions and guidance to researchers about health topics that affect young people. So, Dr. Christi Patten has influenced the Mayo Clinic by establishing a platform that allows young people to have a voice and give recommendations on studies and projects about health that affect them.
Which verb shows that the action is happening continuously right now?
The students _______ lunch outside on the picnic tables.
are eating
were eating
eat
ate
are eating
Which word is spelled correctly?(1 point)
Responses
preferance
preferance
intelligence
intelligence
excellance
excellance
importence
intelligence
J
asmine Jones (ABOVE) is the
organizing director for Rock
the Vote. She works with
teenagers and adults to spread election information. She sat down with
COBBLESTONE to talk about her
work and about how kids can get
involved with elections.
What is Rock the Vote?
Rock the Vote’s mission is to build
political power with young people.
We’re a nonpartisan and nonprofit
organization. For 30 years, we’ve
been working to ensure that every
young person’s voice is heard. We
provide voter education tools and
civic engagement opportunities. We
are a trusted source for election and
voter information. Young people are
our future. And right now, young
people are changing so many narratives.
In June, in the wake of the Black
Lives Matter protests and the voter
suppression discussions, we saw
more people than ever engaging
with our stuff. And we’re continuing to see that. Our Democracy
Classes give teachers a curriculum
Rock the Vote
An Interview With Jasmine Jones
Rock the Vote
by Emily Cambias
Nonpartisan means
not biased or
influenced by any
single group or
political party.
32
to educate young people on the civic
process. Our Brands for Democracy
program works with companies that
want to give their employees civic
engagement opportunities. We do
great work around the U.S. Census,
too, highlighting what it is.
How can kids get
involved in the
political process
before they can vote?
It’s so important to learn about the
voting process early on, before you
turn 18. You have to know how it
works. Civic education is extremely
important. Yet, we know that it’s
lacking throughout our communities and our country. Rock the Vote
tries to fill that void.
A lot of young people apply to
our programs. They have issues
they care about. They deserve to
be in the political conversation.
For example, they’re talking about
climate change and gun control.
We try to showcase that energy and
those issues.
No one expected this past year
with COVID-19 keeping people
socially distant. Even though we
can’t organize in-person, there
are still ways to get involved. For
example, young people can share on
social media—Instagram, Snapchat,
and more. They can spread the
word. They have parents, family
members, or friends who can vote.
They can share information with
them. It can be done at the kitchen
table, having dinner with family. It
can be on a Zoom call, talking with
friends.
The thing I stress the most
with young people is storytelling. Everyone has a story to share.
Everyone has an issue they’re passionate about. Take time to share
why an issue is important to you.
Some conversations may be tough,
but it’s helpful to talk to people you
know about something you care
about.
What kind of
work do you do?
We launched a young ambassador
program this presidential election
year, which I head and am really
proud of. It was designed so that
no matter where young voters are,
they receive as much information
as possible to ensure that they are
able to vote in November. If they
can’t vote, we hope they’ll share
information with family and friends
The Census occurs
every 10 years
and counts every
person living in
the United States
and its territories.
That information
is used to decide
how federal funds
and congressional
representatives
should be allocated.
Rock the Vote wants young
people to make their voices
heard on issues that are
important to them.
33
who can vote and encourage them
to get more involved. The program
is an effort to identify young leaders
across the country and give them
the tools to lead. We’re training
young leaders to be voices in their
communities and share issues that
matter to them the most.
What do
ambassadors do?
They volunteer to be part
of our civic engagement
programs. They promise to
volunteer at least five hours
a month. We use an app to
organize. That’s the cool
thing about technology.
Young people know how
to navigate it. We have a
TikTok—social media is a
big part of the program.
Our volunteers create
videos about why civic
engagement is important.
They share election
reminders. We’ve created a graphic showing the dates of
elections happening throughout the
country, from local and state races
to run-offs and special elections. It’s
especially important this year. Many
states have changed their requirements regarding absentee ballots
and voting in person because of
COVID-19.
A lot of our volunteers are not
yet able to vote. But they still get
involved. We hosted a Democracy
Summer Kick-off back in June, with
Katy Perry and the Black-Eyed Peas.
It was a big virtual concert designed
to bring everyone together. We
encouraged people to vote and to
share why their voice matters. We
also offered activities to get family
and friends involved in the political
process. We have a big goal to reach
in November. We want to make sure
that people are aware of what’s happening in their communities. We
want to encourage them to put their
voices out there at the ballot box
and beyond.
Jones works with young
volunteers to encourage
them to spread their
civic knowledge and to
empower them as future
leaders.
34
What inspired you
to get involved with
Rock the Vote?
I remember being engaged when I
was a kid—I couldn’t say that for all
my friends. But I knew that I wanted
to serve in my community. When I
was 11 years old, my family moved
from North Carolina to Georgia.
Representative John Lewis was from
Georgia. He was one of the people
who inspired me to be in politics.
He inspired me to think about civic
engagement. When he was a young
activist in the civil rights movement
of the 1960s, he helped shape a
culture for me, my sister, my young
cousins. His passing in July made
me realize that we have really huge
shoes to fill. But it’s also a time to
say, “We can do it.” Time to pick up
that torch and carry it forward.
For young people today, it’s different. Little Miss Flint comes to
my mind a lot. She was fed up with
bad water in her community of
Flint, Michigan, and she took
action to raise awareness about
the crisis. And there are lots
of other Miss Flints and Mr.
Flints who are passionate about
issues. They are making the adults
think, “You know, I never thought
about how bad this was.” We need
to continue building power among
young people, because they’re going
to be changing our world. It’s beautiful to see so many young people
energized. I’m glad I’ll be around to
witness what they do.
How is this moment
in history affecting
young people?
A lot of people are fed up with things
that are happening in their communities. Things need to change. Things
need to be better. This is especially
true for communities of color, rural
areas, and places that lack resources.
When it comes to civil rights and
discrimination, it has been a long
battle. This was the year to acknowledge that some things have been very
wrong for 200-plus years.
No one feels isolated when
they are part of a movement. The
movement is relational. It’s who
you know and how you make connections. For Rock the Vote, the
movement is civic education. I’m
honored to be part of it.
For more information about
Rock the Vote, check out their website at www.rockthevote.org. ✔
A student is creating a concept web that explores the relationship between Jasmine Jones and John Lewis. Which idea could the student put in an outer square?
A John Lewis inspired Jasmine Jones to get involved in politics.
B John Lewis taught Jasmine Jones how to run for office.
C Jasmine Jones and John Lewis both moved to Georgia when they were eleven.
D John Lewis was older than Jasmine Jones.