AURORA – Waubonsie Valley’s DNA wind sculpture celebrated its 19th year on May 16. The structure, located at the back of the school by the planetarium, stands 15 feet tall on a concrete base.
The wind structure, which was built in 2006 was a culmination of hard work from students, teachers, parents, businesses, the community, and support from the Indian Prairie Education Foundation.
“Every year, we’d go on this biotech bus trip to Missouri’s Botanical Garden,” said former Waubonsie Valley science teacher Elaine Modine. “They had these wind sculptures, and I just went ‘oh my goodness, those are great. We got to have one of those.'”
“We were doing such incredible work back in the early 2000s with sequencing DNA and part of the human genome project,” said Modine, “and so when I saw all these students, thousands of them that were involved in this project, knowing that their future had so much to do with DNA in their lives, I wanted them to be part of this. So then this idea of dedicating this for past, present, and future, to realize something great was happening here. It was more than we ever expected, and through it all I don’t think it ever hit me how important it was. It was just an exciting time to be a teacher in that field. “What the young people are doing today and what science is doing today is beyond what we ever expected, and I just feel like we need to inspire and if that can inspire anybody to ask a question, well isn’t that all what science is about?”
“I remember saying to my students, ‘one day I hope all of you someday can be as passionate about what you do with your life as I was with what I was doing here.’ For some reason I was at the right place at the right time and, I am very thankful that I had that opportunity,” said Modine. “If you find your passion, you’ll have it in you to fulfill it.”