December 2020
Message from our Executive Director - Nene Spivy (12/08/2020)
Science Strengthens Communities
Never has STEM education been more important, yet more challenging to deliver. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on our education systems, and students and teachers are struggling. Since we closed the Lab in March, we have developed all new virtual programs to bring hands-on STEM to thousands of children in their homes and virtual-classrooms across our region and beyond. We've offered free, need-based scholarships and paid programs at below-cost in order to meet our mission and serve all children. The Children's Science Center needs your help to continue to inspire a love of learning STEM especially when our communities and children need it most.
In this season of giving, please consider the gift of STEM:
- Purchase a Winter WonderLab STEM Kit for curb-side pickup at the Lab
- Register for a virtual winter-break single day camp
- Attend our Noon Year's Eve and other virtual holiday events for the whole family
- Tell your favorite teachers about the science center's YouTube video library, Facebook STEM activity posts, Virtual Field Trips, and Animal Encounters
- Make a gift to the science center - give $10 for STEM!
Every gift makes a difference in making our communities STEM-strong now and in the future!
Volunteer Appreciation Event
We are working on plans to host a volunteer appreciation event Sunday, February 28, 2021. Watch for the Save the Date notice with all the details coming soon.
Communications Volunteers Needed
We are looking for volunteers (both individual and adult/child teams) to help spread the news about our Winter programs during December. Volunteers are needed to like, share and post on their social media accounts, their neighborhood social media accounts, and their Nextdoor website. Receive 30 minutes of volunteer time for each post! A Marketing Digital tool-kit will be provided after you sign up for this opportunity. More information and to sign up can be found at: link.
Even if you don't want to sign up and collect volunteer hours, the Children's Science Center would still like our volunteers to share and post information on the Science Center to their social media accounts, their neighborhood social media accounts, and their Nextdoor website. Follow us on the following channels:
- Facebook: @ChildrensScienceCenter
- Twitter: @ChildSci
- Instagram: @childscicenterlab
When you see one of our posts, please like, comment or share with a comment! If you know someone specifically that would benefit or be interested in these programs, please send them an email that includes this link which will take them directly to our Virtual Programs page.
We can't thank you enough for helping the organization this way. Nothing is more powerful than a personal recommendation from a trusted friend, neighbor, colleague or family member!
Volunteer Highlight - The Youth Advisory Board (YAB)
Volunteer. Lead. Collaborate.
A team of Innovative, Entrepreneurial and Passionate High School Students from Fairfax and Loudoun Counties. They work to forward the Children's Science Center's mission and vision through high school student volunteerism, leadership and collaboration. In the October blog, we introduced the Co-Chairs, Sarah Ali and Justin Burke, as well as the Vice Chair, Namitha Kapa. In the November blog, we introduced the 5 returning members from Fairfax County schools. This month we will share information on the 3 returning members from Loudoun County schools.
Riya Nair is in 11th grade at Briar Woods High School and her favorite subject is economics. The scientist she admires most is Charles Darwin because his contributions to the science of evolution not only changed the entire scientific community, but also changed the world by essentially answering the most important question of how humanity came to be.
Since brain function is still a mystery, she hopes the answer to the question about why we dream or how our conscience works will be answered in her lifetime.
Anurag Gottipati is in 11th grade at Rock Ridge High School, who is interested in the medical field. The scientist he admires the most is Jonas Salk because he discovered the Polio vaccine and saved millions of children from the crippling disease without even seeking to patent it.
In his lifetime, he would like to see a cure for Alzheimer's discovered and hopes this cure can also be applied to treat other neurodegenerative diseases.
Arjun Ramakrishnan is in 10th grade at Broad Run High School. He enjoys math and computer science studies. His favorite scientist is Pythagoras. Arjun admires his curiosity and persistent research. From the start, this mathematician had a question he wanted to answer, and he tirelessly worked until he obtained it. He eventually developed the Pythagorean Theorem, one of the most incredible discoveries in math.
Black holes have been a scientific enigma for decades now, and we still don't know that much about them. Arjun would like to see questions like, "What does the bottom of a black hole contain?" and "Can black holes really lead to other universes?", answered in his lifetime.
See previous blogs to learn about these members:
Wishing you and your families a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season
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