At the March session of The Ladder, medical scholars had the opportunity to learn about the brain and nervous system. But before getting down to the medical science fun, scholars split into smaller groups so they could get to know each other a bit over lunch:

The thing about The Ladder, besides being an awesome medical science and career educational program for North Minneapolis youth, is that Ladder scholars of all ages not only get to be mentored by the more experienced scholars but also get to be mentors themselves to those younger or less experienced. Everyone has the opportunity to learn from others, and everyone has the opportunity to teach others.

For example, here – veteran medical scholar Caleb demonstrates to a new scholar a web application that tests cognitive & visual reaction times.

Young scholars learned about the anatomy and function of the brain and nervous system as well as things like strokes that can go wrong. In addition to tech exposure in learning about cognition and visual responses using web applications, scholars also had the opportunity at one station for medical hands-on learning about reflexes:

Even the youngest scholars had a chance to try their hand at soliciting a reflex response!

Tell the young scholars in your life, family, school, class and neighborhood about The Ladder – where they can not only develop goals for the future, but be actively supported and challenged to pursue those goals by mentors and resources from the University of Minnesota Academic Health Sciences schools & colleges, the North Memorial Family Medicine Residency Program, and Broadway Family Medicine. In addition, young scholars will be learning along side and supported by peers from their own communities and neighborhoods in North Minneapolis.

The next meeting of the Ladder is Saturday, April 11th (always the second Saturday of the month) at 12:30pm and open to scholars, parents and supporters agers 9 and older. There’s always learning AND fun – plus free lunch! The next meeting of the Ladder will be at the usual spot – the UROC building (2001 Plymouth Ave N) in North Minneapolis.