April 23, 2019

Washington and Lee University sophomore and Unionville High School graduate Sophie Wilks ’21 has won a $4,300 Nemours Summer Undergraduate Research Scholarship for a project that she is working on titled “A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Sleep Among Children and Adolescents with Cystic Fibrosis (CF).” Wilks is a biology major.

“The project is run by a team of several pulmonologists at the AI DuPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, which is my hometown,” said Wilks. “The aim of the project includes learning more about the sleep health and hygiene of children with cystic fibrosis and helping those children improve their sleep health. We will be working with the families of the children with CF, as well.”

She said, “The experiences I have had in my science labs have taught how to work in a team environment toward a common goal,” Wilks said. “I have learned how to be patient, even when I don’t get the result I was expecting, and I have learned to persevere, even when problems are very difficult. I think that the interpersonal communication skills I have learned at W&L will make an important difference in working on a clinical research team because communication is so important when working with human subjects.”

Wilks is excited to work in a hospital and learn more about the world of clinical research and medicine.

“I think this experience is going to be extremely valuable for me no matter what I decide to do with my career,” Wilks said. “I expect to learn a lot about cystic fibrosis and pulmonology and even more about how to interact with different people.”

About CFLive Staff

See Contributors Page https://chaddsfordlive.com/writers/

• Mail
|
• More Posts(8333)

Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board directors Monday night voted to go ahead with several building improvements by authorizing the spending of more than $1.35 million on the facilities. They also voted to spend more than $55,000 on kitchen equipment.

Charles F. Patton Middle School will be the recipient of most of the work. The board voted to spend $714,710 for a partial roof replacement, as well as another $148,500 for the school’s media center.

Director Gregg Lindner said the roof at Patton is 47 years old, so the district had definitely gotten its money’s worth. “We’ve gotten our full value out of that particular roof, and the middle school could use a new energy efficient roof replacement, which is going to go in,” he said.

Lindner also said the media center upgrade at Patton modernizes the library and makes for more flexible use of space.

While none of the contractors awarded any of the projects were mentioned during the meeting, the roof work went to Roofers Edge, of Dunkirk, N.Y., and the media center upgrade contract was awarded to BSS Contractors, of West Grove, according to the online documents.

BSS was also awarded a $126,000 contract to improve the stair tower at Unionville High  School and Roofers Edge was given the contract to improve the roof system over the gymnasium and cafeteria at Chadds Ford Elementary School for $107,000.

CFES and Unionville Elementary School will have some carpeting removed and replaced with tile. The cost of that work is $14,000, with the contract going to G & F Carpet of Oxford.

The board also awarded a $187,400 contract to New Holland Chainlink to install netting along the varsity and junior varsity baseball fields at Unionville High School. And an additional $56,000 is to be spent on seal coating and paving at CFES, CFPMS and at the district office.

Another $55,447 will go toward replacing a dishwashing machine at Patton Middle School and for a kitchen equipment upgrade at the high school.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

• Mail
|
• More Posts(3328)