Bella Macleod
Features Editor
Junior Mia Milosevic dedicates her time to teaching the fundamentals of neuroscience to Manhattan Beach elementary school students.
Milosevic used her knowledge of neuroscience to teach first and second grade students about the brain at an after school enrichment program at Grand View Elementary last spring.
“There are countless mental disorders that people deal with later in life, and I feel like if you have more knowledge about the brain early on, [it] allows you to be more aware of these possibilities,” Milosevic said.
Milosevic became interested in neuroscience in her freshman year biology class. Milosevic also founded Costa’s Neuroscience club her sophomore year, where members compete at the Los Angeles Brain Bee, a program that allows high school students to test their knowledge on the brain. This past summer, Milosevic coded and analyzed data from a research study through an internship at the Creativity institute at the University of Southern California, where she found her inspiration for the neuroscience classes.
“At the [Brain and Creativity Institute], they taught me a lot,especially on adolescent development.” Milosevic said. “Since I’m teaching younger kids, it’s helpful to have worked at a place that focuses on this.”
Milosevic reached out to MBX administrators and was able to get an interview with Manhattan Beach Unified After School and Summer Enrichment Programs Director Nancy Rosenburg. From here she received a spot to teach her class once a week at Grand View. She then began advertising the class on Grand View’s website and hung flyers around the school.
“My main intention is to introduce younger generations to a field that not a lot of people get the chance to learn about since it’s rare for kids in elementary schools to learn about the brain,” Milosevic said.
Milosevic teaches her students about the different functions of the brain with an emphasis on the concept of memory through interactive activities. In one activity, Milosevic has students draw
a neuron on a large sheet of paper and roll toy cars with messages inside them to each other. This taught her students the concept of synapses. Milosevic also conducted an experiment with the students to see if they could remember words better through different kinds of music or silence.
“Every class covers a different subject of neuroscience, and I pretty much have a set plan for how each [class] is going to be,”Milosevic said.
Milosevic taught a class of ten first and second grade students ia five-week long session every Monday afternoon. Milosevic will begin her classes again in January and hopes to expand to other elementary schools in Manhattan Beach.
“We played a lot of games,which made the kids feel like they weren’t doing neuroscience but just having fun,”Milosevic said. “It made the overall experience really enjoyable because we spent very little time sitting in the classroom.”
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