A group of teachers crowds around Jen Lewin, the Northwestern/District 65 Partnership Coordinator at Science in Society. She is spinning a vinyl record like a DJ, picking up speed with each revolution. But, despite the turntable’s recent return to fashion, there are no record players in sight. There’s only a lazy susan – the kind you’d see in a family-style restaurant – and a cone made of a plain sheet of printer paper, rolled and pinned into shape with a sewing needle.
Science in Society welcomed a new associate director this summer. Rabiah Mayas joins the team in this newly created leadership position to guide and develop the Center’s core initiatives, including both K–12 STEM education and researcher training programs.
Prior to joining Science in Society, Rabiah served as the Director of Science and Integrated Strategies at the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI), where she managed the museum’s informal education programs, maker space, learning evaluation team, and professional development and science education initiatives.
Northwestern's Science in Society and the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago (BGCC) welcomed community members and donors to the official grand opening of a new laboratory on Tuesday, April 11. The custom-built lab will be home to Science Club at the True Value BGCC in Little Village, a neighborhood on the west side of Chicago. Science Club expanded to True Value BGCC in Winter 2016, following eight successful years at the program’s flagship site, Pederson-McCormick BGCC.
Over the course of 2016, Science in Society has been extending and developing several community-focused partnerships in Evanston. As always, our work is firmly grounded in supporting underserved communities with high-quality, impactful STEM opportunities, and these new initiatives are no exception.
Dr. Michael Kennedy, director of Science in Society and research professor of neurobiology at Northwestern University, was recently appointed to the Teacher Advisory Council of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The council was established in 2002 to bring the expertise of classroom teachers to the education and outreach work undertaken by the Academies.
Graduate students and post docs (and even faculty and staff) can have the best intentions. We constantly meet motivated scholars looking to give back to the community but they’re not sure where to start.
Sound familiar?
If you’re interested in developing your science communication, teaching, leadership, or mentorship skills, stop by one of our drop-in info sessions to hear about projects with which you can get involved.