Walters Engages Students With Experiments At Everett

Left-handed versus right-handed

Former Paris Junior College president and chemistry teacher Bobby Walters holds up a seashell for third graders at Everett Elementary as he spoke about left-handed and right-handed genes.

The Lightning Whelk seashell, found only in the Gulf of Mexico and loved by the hermit crab, symbolizes the rich diversity of Texas natural resources and was designated the official state shell of Texas in 1987.  Walters showed his audience that by gripping the shell with his left hand, his fingers fit comfortably into the opening of the shell with his thumb at the top of the spiral. Most seashells are right-handed.

Walters and his two assistants, Gina Crawford and Becky Semple, demonstrated a number of jaw-dropping experiments for students in JoNel Eads and Jennifer McEwin’s classes.