2015 Annual Report

2015 ANNUAL REPORT | SOCIETY ADVOCATES

2015 ANNUAL REPORT | SOCIETY OUTREACH

The benefits of science competition expanded to underserved students The Society is committed to increasing the number of under- served students competing and succeeding in science research competitions. In 2015, we piloted the Advocate Grant Program with $100,000 of seed funding, which was matched by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. Advocates act as mentors for groups of three to five students, helping them find science research competitions and complete the application process. Nine adults were selected as the first class of Society Advo- cates and more than 85 students were recruited. More than 40 students completed applications to science research competitions. Advocates are selected into a comprehensive year of programming where they receive a $3,000 stipend, a paid trip toWashington, D.C., for a convening event with their new cohort of colleagues and individualized mentoring from Society staff. The number of Advocates will increase to 31 in 2016 thanks to $250,000 in additional support from the Alcoa Foundation.

Society's fellowship program

The final class of the Society for Science & the Public Fellows Program closed out 2015 with a number of admirable suc- cesses. FellowDavid Oyler, of Colorado, established the first “Science Day” at his new school. Oyler’s school, which primarly serves deaf students, had never had a full-time science teacher or even a science teacher with a science degree. Theresa Knipe guided seven underserved students from her research program to enter their regional fair and move on to the Indiana State Fair. In their final year, the Fellows had much to celebrate. The Society hosted its first teacher conference, bringing 100 teachers from 30 states to Washington, D.C., all expenses paid. Teachers were selected by lottery from among 570 who applied. Self-identifying their experience as veteran, intermediate or novice, panels of teachers led breakout sessions on topics such as how to start a research program at your high school, how to reach more underrepresented and low income students, and how to help students write scientific research papers. Some research teachers had been working in isolation for multiple decades, meeting their fellow research teachers for the first time ever.

CELEBRATING STUDENT SUCCESS The Kelp Huggers—students of Society Fellow Dominique Evans-Bye—participate in the 2015 Lexus Eco-Challenge.

Science Talent Search Research Teachers Conference

“The STS Teacher Conference was without a doubt the most enjoyable and valuable professional development experience of my career.”

STEM SUPPORT 2015 Advocate Scott Bolen with students.

Jennifer Canaday, Lakeland Christian School

“Preparing for this type of activity can take lots of work outside of the classroom and this is where I see socioeconomically challenged students struggle. I feel like this program has allowed me to help with that struggle so that my students can enter competitive projects in the science fair.” 2015 Advocate Scott Bolen

“Sharing ideas and strategies with teachers from such vastly different backgrounds was truly valuable. It was clearly evident that the common thread that binds us all is our love of education and for our students.”

David Kommor, W.C. MephamHigh School

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