Current Outreach Activities

An article by Mae C. Jennison, first African-American female astronaut, in the "Scientist" that speaks to the importance of scientists in the classroom as role models. (http://www.the-scientist.library.upenn.edu/yr1999/sept/opin_990913.html)

Tech Challenge

The Tech Challenge 2004 Big Day is fast approaching! On April 24th, over 700 students will convene in Parkside Hall in downtown San Jose to test their innovative devices in our Pick a Pike challenge.

Join the fun! We need volunteers of all sorts, from greeters to device and design methodology judges! All day or partial day shifts are available. See the attached flyer for more information.

Feel free to share this flyer with other friends/co-workers who might be interested in joining the fun. These students come up with really exciting, innovative solutions to our challenges every year.

Regards, Melissa Book McAlexander, Ph.D. Tech Challenge & Community Partnerships Manager

Web: http://techchallenge.thetech.org/volunteer.cfm#bigday to volunteer!

Buchser Middle School Fire

Some of you might have heard the news, the fire that destroyed the science building at Buchser Middle School (1111 Belomy St., Santa Clara). Since they have lost EVERYTHING, donations, gifts and loans of science things large and small would be very helpful. This is a faculty group who practice hands-on, minds-on science who are now in completely bare non-science classrooms with new books.

News article on 2/22 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/archive/2004/02/22/fire22.DTL.

The list below is far from complete. If you have anything that you can donate for middle school science, please take it over yourself! I'm sure they would like to thank you in person. Otherwise, you may contact me, Katy Korsmeyer <kuokaty@scientist.com> or Jean Beard <jbeard@jupiter.sjsu.edu> at SJSU's Science Ed Program and we will make sure money or donated items get over to Buchser MS. If you have questions about what is appropriate, please feel free to email me.

BUCHSER Middle School's NEEDS LIST:
Triple beam Balances Microscopes (4, 40, 100 power)
Storage Containers: Plastic boxes, shelving units
Models: earth quake, cells, plant structures, skeleton
Stream tables
Posters to decorate the rooms, anything scientific, environmental, human body
Slides/coverslips
Lens paper
Droppers and dropping bottles
Test tubes
Test tube racks
Test tube holders
Graduated cylinders
Beakers( 50,100, 250 ml especially)
Small storage containers(tupperware-like)
Plaster of Paris
BOOKS and VIDEOS
Astronomy Biomes Bill Nye Miracle of Life Loma Prieta Earthquake (ABC edition) National Geographic on volcanos DK
Science Encyclopedias
Eye Witness books on Units being taught

BUCHSER'S Science Units March to June 2004
EIGHTH GRADE Forces and Motions Simple Machines Inventions Health AIDS/HIV and STD
SEVENTH GRADE Light Genetics Plants Cells Human Body Evolution
SIXTH GRADE Plate Tectonics Volcanos/Earthquakes Natural Resources Biomes Weather

The list gives you an idea of what will be taught in the next few months. Any worksheets, lab activities or graphics that you could make copies from would be greatly appreciated, since everything was destroyed by fire and water. Many thanks for you help at this tragic time.

March 17, 2004 Fifth Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. Supported by the Palo Alto Chapter. We need your help!!!!!! Yes, we need you to help judge for about five hours. This is for students throughout Santa Clara County. They are looking for 300 volunteers to serve as judges in teams of three to four to determine winners at each grade level. Judges will be encouraging and sharing their experience with all the students. Contact: Katy Kuo Korsmeyer at kuokaty@scientist.com or register at http://www.science-fair.org/judges . If you have friends, colleagues or fellow members of the professional societies who would make good judges, please forward thismessage to them.

Girls for a Change

DO YOU WANT TO EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATION OF WOMEN LEADERS?

GIRLS FOR A CHANGE IS SEARCHING FOR WOMEN WHO WANT TO SUPPORT URBAN GIRLS TO BECOME COMMUNITY LEADERS AND SOCIAL CHANGE MAKERS!

Girls For A Change is entering our second year connecting young urban women with professional women. We are searching for women mentors, “coaches”. Coaches are the essential element of the Girls For A Change mission and we need your help to find qualified candidates.

What is a coach? Two women volunteers facilitate teams of about 10 girls. The coaches support girls’ projects and enhance the skills, resources and creativity the girls innately possess. These women coaches will provide a safe, supportive space with partner with and sometimes guiding the girls though the implementation of their projects.

· Please share this information with any contacts that you have. Girls For A Change can also:

o Present at a brown bag lunch at your workplace

o Make a presentation at a monthly meeting that lasts anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes

o Provide you with a blurb for your newsletter or email

o Send emails to contacts you believe would be interested in the position

Please contact Carrie Ellett, 408-515-8148 OR carrie@girlsforachange.org for more information about Girls For A Change coaching opportunities!

MentorNet

E-mentoring opportunity - just 20 minutes per week

The MentorNet One-on-One Mentoring Programs are a chance to make a big difference in the life of someone else, while spending as little as 20 minutes a week using email.

MentorNet's One-on-One Mentoring Programs pair women engineering and science community college, undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs as proteges with female or male professionals from all sectors as mentors for one-on-one, email-based mentoring (e-mentoring) relationships.

Our flagship Industry E-Mentoring Program is for proteges interested in working in industry or at a government laboratory or agency, while our Academic Career E-Mentoring Program (new for 2003) is for graduate students and postdocs interested in a faculty career.

The program has proven effective by providing "real world" information, encouragement, advice, and access to networks that are otherwise often unavailable to women students in the male dominated fields of engineering and science. This why over 90% of participants would recommend MentorNet's e-mentoring programs to a friend or colleague.

How can you volunteer to be a mentor? 1) Join the MentorNet Community. 2) Sign in to the Community and follow the One-on-One Mentoring Programs links to create a mentor profile.

Since 1998, MentorNet has matched nearly 20,000 proteges and mentors with strong results. We hope you will join them!

For more information, please go to www.MentorNet.net

MentorNet's Sponsors include: 3M Company, AT&T Foundation, Cisco Systems, EMC Corporation, Engineering Information Foundation, GE Foundation, IBM Corporation, Intel Corporation, Intel Foundation, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Microsoft Corporation, NASA Ames Research Center, National Science Foundation, Naval Research Laboratory, SAP Labs, Schlumberger, Solectron and Affiliated Partners NSPE and Sigma Xi

Science Buddies

This is a new volunteer program in the Bay Area that works with middle school students to help teach them about science. Please take a look at their web site. Consider becoming an "Advisor" to a team of HS and MS students working on a science project this year. Science fairs are popular in the Bay Area. More mentors, advisors and judges are always needed for the exponential increase of entries.

--Katy

Do you: - WANT to "give back to society" in a meaningful way without costing you a penny? - HAVE AN INTEREST in helping middle-school and high-school students be more interested in the sciences and technology? - HAVE on average 1 hour per week to spare for a 12-week period to give advice online (no fixed times, totally flexible, purely web-based interaction)? - HAVE a Bachelor's degree in any field of science or engineering?

If so, please consider becoming a Science Buddies Advisor. "Science Buddies" is a creative and worthwhile program that is an unusually convenient and hassle-free way for busy scientific and engineering personnel to do a volunteer activity.

What is Science Buddies? Science Buddies recruits 10th - 12th grade student ("Mentors") to help 7th - 10th grade students ("Investigators") complete science fair projects. They recruit and match scientific and engineering professionals from the community to serve as "Advisors", providing deeper expertise to each student mentoring team. The program provides an online mentoring environment where participants interact.

About Science Buddies The Science Buddies mentoring program offers an exceptional way to help start improving our kids' proficiency in science. The program leverages the involvement of a community rich in scientific and engineering professionals to provide positive science role models to our students. Without adding work for busy teachers, Science Buddies enables teachers to challenge and inspire their students through the wonderful hands-on learning experience of a science fair project. Because the mentoring happens online, in a monitored environment, the program makes it safe for kids to participate and easy for volunteers to donate their time. With the support of a professional advisor and their very own peer mentor, middle school students get tremendous benefit out of participating in a science fair: they learn more, produce better quality projects, and develop inspirational relationships with role models.

Ideal Volunteer Opportunity for Busy Professionals Science Buddies is experiencing high demand from schools in Bay Area communities and expects to serve 500 or more students this fall. In order to that, they need the help of around 250 adult volunteers with science or engineering backgrounds. Volunteers like you could make a really positive difference on the program experience of these budding student "scientists." The online nature of the program makes it very hassle-free for adult volunteers and the time commitment is quite manageable as well (a total of only 10-12 hours over the course of 3 months, with flexibility in terms of exactly when the mentoring happens). Answers to most common questions about being an Advisor can be found at: <http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/application_intro_advisor.shtml

The core Science Buddies program is unusual in that it is a peer mentoring program in which students mentor other students. High school Mentors take the lead in this program, and Advisors are available as backup when Mentors need help. Advisors experience the reward of helping students extend their knowledge and discover the potential of science. In addition, Advisors have the opportunity to help students learn more about science careers and research opportunities. Key responsibilities of the Advisors include: · Monitor the progress of the mentoring relationship through the project deliverables and schedule. · Serve as an additional resource for the team (e.g. providing expert scientific knowledge or research/experiment tips). · Assist the Mentor when necessary.

The Need for Science Buddies California students' performance on a recent national assessment of science proficiency tied them for dead last among the 50 states (which is even worse considering that, as a whole, U.S. students ranked at the bottom of the pack among industrialized nations in a similar international assessment). Yet some of the world's most successful high-tech companies operate in the very communities where these students live. Science education in California is in desperate need of improvement and the strained educational system can certainly use some help from community involvement.

Please visit http://www.sciencebuddies.org for more information or to sign up online.

Email Mentors

Two great AP Biology teachers at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino are looking for mentors. They have 7 sections of AP Biology!!! The idea is to find mentors for a year-end Product Development Project where student teams work with a scientist mentor who is willing to give them advice, read through their documentation and offer suggestions. Student teams research, design, test, and market a biologically-based product over a period of 6 weeks. At the end of this project, the mentors are invited to the school for the final presentations and to see the finished products that they contributed their expertise to.

The commitments are: Available to the student team to answer questions by email or by phone Give student team ideas about how to begin initial research Periodically log on to the Yahoo Groups site set up by the student team to check on the group's progress and offer suggestions If possible, attend the final Presentations in June

Regular contact with the mentor would be encouraged, but student teams would be very careful to respect the other time commitments of the mentor and not create additional burdens for the mentor. The teachers hope that student teams could also visit the mentor's work site to see biology applied to industry firsthand. However, this is not a requirement. Visit their web site for more info about the project http://www.mvhs.fuhsd.org/tkrieger/apbio/biotech/resources.htm.

This is a little longer term than the usual science fair and career speaker requests. But, the experience will be very rewarding for you and, especially, the students. Please pass this along to your colleagues who might also be interested!

Please contact the teachers Pamela Tsai and Tim Krieger if you are able to help. Thank you.

Pam Tsai <pamela_tsai@fuhsd.org> Tim Krieger <tim_krieger@fuhsd.org> Monta Vista High School 21840 McClellan Road Cupertino, CA 95014-4055 (408) 366-7624

--Katy

AAI Scientist Mentors Needed for High School Teachers!!!

The American Association of Immunologists is looking for members willing to serve as mentors in the AAI John H. Wallace High School Teachers Program. The program is offered each summer through the AAI and is supported by a grant from the NIAID/NIH.

This program allows selected high school biology or science teachers to spend four weeks in a mentor's laboratory, coupled with several weeks of curriculum development provided by AAI. The objective of the program is to give high school science teachers the chance to participate in "hands-on" research in immunology. This experience is intended to acquaint the teachers with modern, state-of-the-art research tools and techniques, and to allow them to bring the excitement of research to their classrooms. In addition, the fellowship helps to establish long term associations between science teachers and the research community.

The program provides a $5000 stipend to the high school teacher. Additionally, travel funds are provided for each teacher to attend the AAI annual meeting and present his or her laboratory work to other teachers and mentors at the John H. Wallace Symposium. The curricula developed by the teachers are posted on the AAI web site and made freely available to educators in an effort to encourage interest in immunology at the high school level.

For those of you frustrated with the science education in your school district or community, this program will give you the opportunity to provide training and expertise to a teacher that may directly impact the science education your child may receive!

For applications or questions, contact John Schreiber, M.D.,M.P.H., Director, AAI High School Teachers Program:

AAI Teacher Fellowship c/o John Schreiber, M.D., M.P.H. Case Western Reserve University Division of Infectious Diseases/Allergy/Immunology/Rheumatology Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital 11100 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, Ohio 44106 jrs3@po.cwru.edu 216.844.3645 FAX 216.844.8362

CCIS Summer Intern Program

As the co-organizer of a terrific program for high school students to spend eight weeks learning in Stanford research labs, I thought AWIS might be interested in what we are doing. Last summer we had 20 Interns, of which 16 were young women (yeah!). They are working in labs that are on the cutting edge of synergistic research, bringing together the elements of science, medicine, bio-tech, engineering , microarrays, etc. The Interns have gone on to pursue higher education at Stanford, Yale, Harvard, Berkeley, and others. While we run the program at Stanford under the umbrella of the Immunology & Rheumatology division, we must provide our own funding. I would hope this would be something you and your membership might be interested in supporting either personally or corporately. I'd love to have you check out our web site (http://ccis.stanford.edu) with pictures from last year as well as more information about the program. I'd be very happy to speak with you and, if you wanted, we could make a short presentation. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Lu Em Click here for more information. **************************************************************************************************
Lu Em Wellhausen Manager Division of Immunology & Rheumatology & Center for Clinical Immunology @ Stanford (CCIS) CCSR Building, Room 4245 300 Pasteur Drive Stanford, CA 94305-5166 Phone: 650-723-8414 Fax: 650-725-4114 http://ccis.stanford.edu

Donate Old Lab Coats

Does any one have old dirty, smelly, stained lab coats hanging around work or home that they would like to donate to schools? If so, please let me know. Thanks! -- --Katy * : )

Contact: Katy Korsmeyer, Ph.D. Outreach Committee Co-Chair, Palo Alto Chapter Association for Women in Science (AWIS) kuokaty@scientist.com

Tutoring at Eastside

Eastside is an experimental college preparatory high school in East Palo Alto for motivated low income and minority students (http://eastside.org/). There are both morning and afternoon study periods during which tutors can meet individually with students and help them with their material. This coming year, they will need more tutors with enough science background to tutor chemistry and physics at the high school level. This is a simple and rewarding way to become a mentor to an underprivileged high school student for as little as a couple of hours a week. Anyone interested should contact Shaneka Julian, shanekaj@eastside.org. Elizabeth Marin Biological Sciences

U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau Women's Bureau/NASA Collaboration to Encourage Girls in High-Tech Careers

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) have been collaborating to raise the awareness of girls and women about rewarding career opportunities in technology, math,

science and engineering. Both agencies have a long-term interest in this area. The DOL Women's Bureau believes that by increasing girls' and women's interest in - and preparedness for - high-tech nontraditional fields, we can improve their pay, expand their career opportunities and strengthen our nation's prosperity. DOL envisions this initiative as an important means of bridging the wage gap and ensuring that America's workforce has the high-tech skills necessary to keep our economy strong

To achieve its ambitious, innovative and high-tech goals, NASA recruits "the best and brightest" talent. In this process, NASA has discovered that an alarmingly low number of women and minorities are pursuing degrees in science and technology. To ensure that NASA and America continue to be trailblazers in science and technology, NASA seeks to encourage more women and minorities to pursue degrees - and careers - in math, science, engineering and technology. To help prepare for the opportunities of the 21st Century, NASA is dedicated to inspiring students to aspire to these careers by serving as a role model, providing education tools, and encouraging women and minorities to seek aerospace careers.

Overview The DOL Women's Bureau and NASA are engaging in a coordinated effort to encourage girls across the country to consider promising non-traditional fields and are providing girls with the opportunity to interact with role

models - women who are currently succeeding in high-tech careers. In collaboration with women's groups, women's technical associations, girls'

organizations and workforce development professionals, DOL and NASA seek to facilitate communication and cooperation - and make a greater difference in improving the lives and opportunities of America's women and girls.

For additional information please contact: Teresa M. Hudkins Women's Outreach Manager NASA - Office of Public Affairs Washington, D.C. 20546 (202) 358-1977 Grier Mendel Public Affairs Specialist Department of Labor, Women's Bureau Washington, D.C. 20210 (202) 693-6716

Outreach Help

Outreach is looking for people to coordinate incoming requests for Outreach help and redistribute requests to the appropriate members of the Outreach list via email.

Interested? Want to know more? Contact Katy Kuo Korsmeyer at kuokaty@scientist.com

OUTREACH OPPORTUNITY!

MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT IN 4-6 HOURS PER MONTH! ------------------------------------------------------------------

It takes only a few hours per month for YOU to have a significant positive impact on the life of a High School Junior: use your experience in industry and as a professional to mentor a student from East San José. You communicate with your student by phone, e-mail or in person - your student needs an adult friend who is not a parent or teacher and who can help her or him learn about the biotechnology industry.

The program concentrates on students who will benefit most significantly from enriching experiences in their lives -- experiences that will convince them that learning is to be valued.

No, you don't need teaching experience, but you can be a part of the Andrew P. Hill High School's Biotechnology Academy. So, check out our web site, and read what this program can offer both you and a high school student:

WHAT: Andrew Hill's Biotechnology Mentor Program 3200 Senter Road, San Jose, 95111

CONTACT: Mary Metz (408) 347-4112

URL: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Library/4331/index.html

TUTORS & MENTORS FOR ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED KIDS

A small group of MITCNC members are volunteering at Menlo-Atherton High School to tutor economically disadvantaged students from East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park. We would like to institute a similar tutoring program (as well as mentoring) at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, and we need more tutors at Menlo-Atherton. Both schools are close to Hwy 101. Tutoring requires only 90 minutes one day a week, and it is OK if you cannot attend every week. We especially need tutors at Sequoia at 7 am or 2:15 pm any day and at Menlo-Atherton at 12 noon Wed. or Thur. If these times are inconvenient but there are other times that would fit your schedule, please let us know. Mentoring times are flexible. (The difference between tutoring and mentoring is that "tutoring" is teaching a small group of students, typically by helping them with their homework, whereas "mentoring" is being both a personal counselor and tutor for an individual student.)

Re Menlo-Atherton high school, please contact: Yanqing Du '99 tel: (650) 688-6758 email: ydu@exponent.com

Re Sequoia high school, please contact: Bob Stern '73 tel. (650) 365-4880 email: patent@mac.com

Science Club

Some of you might have heard of what Kaz Aoyagi (AWIS member) started at Applied Biosystems a couple of years ago, before she left for the east coast. It's a wonderful after-school program at the Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula (near 92 and 101) to introduce low-income students to the fun of science through a science club. Applied Biosystems sponsors the program but scientists from all fields are needed to be one-time volunteers. Details are listed below.

Mission: To expose kids to science in a fun and interacive way by leading them through various hands-on experiments. Who: The kids are generally 10 - 11 year olds (5th and 6th grade). About 12 - 15 kids in a class. Date: currently on Tuesdays only (hoping to get enough volunteers to do Thursdays as well) Time: 4:45pm til 5:30pm (room available from 4:30pm to setup) Place: Mid-Peninsula Boys & Girls Club Co-ordinator: Joe Egan (650) 347-9891 x103 200 N. Quebec St. San Mateo, CA 94401 Commitment: We are asking each volunteer to prepare for and lead one class. For those inspired to do more classes, that's very much welcomed. For the first timers, some of the senior volunteers and myself would be happy to help in leading a class.

If you have any questions , feel free to contact me:

Mark Borodkin Applied Biosystems borodkmn@appliedbiosystems.com 650.638.5318

MentorNet

MentorNet Call for Mentors

Would you like to share your experiences with a college or graduate student? Help her understand what it is like to work in industry? Provide support as a woman student pursues a science or engineering education?

MENTORS ARE NEEDED -- MentorNet needs about 1,500 more mentors to reach its goal of 3,500 for the 2002-2003 academic year. The organization pairs college and university women studying engineering, science, or math with male and female professional scientists and engineers for a year-long relationship via e-mail. Executive Director Carol Muller says that this number has increased from 2,000 students who were matched with mentors last year, which is a dramatic increase over the 204 pairs matched in 1998, during MentorNet's first year of operation.

MentorNet, working in close collaboration with AWIS, is seeking engineering, scientific and technical professionals to mentor women engineering and science students on-line! In today's U.S. workforce, women are just over 9% of the engineers and approximately 30% of the scientists. Women students earn 17% of the engineering, 32% of the physical science, and 41% of all science and math degrees. Mentoring is an effective strategy for increasing the retention rates of women in these fields.

Deadline for applications online is Oct. 31. http://www.mentornet.net and click on the "Mentors" link.

Menlo School
is a private 6-12 school in Menlo Park. They have an innovative elective for seniors called the Biotech /Science Research Class. All students have had chemistry, physics and biology and are committed to doing laboratory and library research. It is designed to give students a taste of real research through work on an independent project. It is for students "who are resourceful, responsible, patient and interested in pursuing science work in the future."   I am looking for 2 types of mentors.

        Email Mentors:
To help develop a reasonable research project in biology, molecular biology, or biochemistry. To assist by email (2X per month, more if desired) with direction of research and data analysis. The project should be an interesting question   to answer in the lab (not necessarily novel) and present at a local science fair at the end of the year. Menlo School will provide all necessary supplies and equipment. Projects in the past: examining geo-diversity in plants, in sharks,       optimizing temperature and concentrations used in transformations, chromosome mapping of fruit flies, and breeding of fruit flies. If you are available, please contact me to discuss in more detail and to answer any questions. You have a choice of mentoring an individual or a pair of students working together on a project. You can also mentor only females if that's your preference.

        Internship Mentors:
To help a student generate an idea and be willing to let the student work in your lab to do the project or have the student spend several afternoons in your lab performing the techniques that cannot be done in the classroom (i.e.. DNA sequencing, ELISAs, UV spec, etc.). Do you have any small questions that you have been wanting someone to try for free? These seniors have flexible schedules, transportation, and very good science backgrounds. Some are available 2 or more times per week for 4+ hours! This is a great way to make a real difference in a youth's life. A little investment in time and teaching will pay off in well-done responsible work. Please phone or email me to discuss this in further detail. Your company or PI needs to be aware of this arrangement. Don't we all remember someone mentoring us for the first time? That's what got me to go to grad school. My optimistic goal is to find mentors for the whole class!!! Thank you, on behalf of the kids, for furthering science education.

Contact:
Katy Kuo Korsmeyer, Ph.D. Association for Women in Science (AWIS) Palo Alto Chapter, Outreach Committee Co-Chair at kuokaty@scientist.com