Happy fall! I'm sure you are as thrilled as we are by the many female Nobel laureates in science this year! The past few months has flown by and we have much to share. To keep up, we have created
a blog at http://scienceclubforgirls.wordpress.com with weekly posts and occasional musings.
But first, check out our picks of family-friendly sci/tech/engineering events around the state. See side panel for listing and link. And please tell your friends to patronize Ten Thousand Villages in Central Square if you can this Sunday if they can!
A few highlights from the past few months.
This summer, I followed the footsteps of our alum, Rachel O'Sullivan, and traveled to Pokuase, Ghana to conduct two teacher workshops to prepare them to lead Science Clubs. (
More here) The ideas of hands-on explorations and using guided questions as a learning tool were new, but welcome. Thanks to the support of Science House, about eighty 4th grade girls in four different schools are attending clubs this year. We hope that this venture will not only benefit the girls who come, but will change how these dozen teachers teach science in their own classrooms, multiplying the impact. Details to come.
Here in Massachusetts, we have
40 clubs in operation in Boston, Cambridge, Lawrence and Newton, where
83 volunteer mentor-scientists and
54 Junior Mentors are guiding over
370 girls! Program manager Kareen Wilkinson paints a vivid picture of the excitement at the Amigos School, our largest site,
here. Our
returning mentor-scientists Jeanette Lim, Carolyn Eng, Lori Fingerhut and Danielle Pike share their experience and talk about what they've learned about themselves
here. (Videos produced by our excellent Massachusetts Promise Fellow Jules Burnstein).
What can keep a 1st grader as well as a 6th grade girl transfixed for two hours? Science and technology of course! Thanks to the 25+ groups who charmed the kids (and parents) with their petri dishes, animals, cell phone and smart paper demos. We held two wonderful
Show me the Science fairs, one hosted at
Wellesley College and one at
Wentworth Institute of Technology this fall. Click the links above to read more. Program manager Stephanie Lemnios and Massachusetts Promise Fellow Sonal Dhingra have outdone themselves.
Our next SMTS will be in Lawrence in January. Let us know if you'd like to be an exhibitor, or to help plan future events.
Can you believe that
we served almost 900 participants in 2008-09? See the right sidebar on our
homepage
for a breakdown! Not only will we serve more children this year through new partnerships with the Esperanza Academy and Girl Scouts, the
reflective practices of our wonderful staff and volunteers will ensure
that the programs and activities are always improving to best serve the
girls' needs.
And we are very thankful that we can continue to provide free programs to so many during these trying times.Lastly, I want to know
what your favourite childhood or adolescent book is, what fired your imagination about the world, or about who you can be. This could generate a meaningful list for our girls and for the child in your lives. Leave a comment on
this blog and see what others have to say.
Wishing you peace and joy,
Connie Chow
Executive Director
