SPRING 2009

Grant opens world of science, shorter to middle-Schoolers

More than one dozen local middle school students packed into a classroom in Rome Hall on Feb. 3, ready to open new doors into the world of science and technology.

Shorter and the Etowah Georgia Youth Science and Technology Center (GYSTC), partnered to sponsor SCIO – a science-based learning program. SCIO, an acronym for Student Curiosity, Innovation and Opportunity, is also a Latin verb meaning “to know” from which the word science is derived. Privately funded through a donation made by Massachusetts resident Mark Gelfand, Shorter’s SCIO program gave eager minds an opportunity to work closely with higher education science specialists to develop science fair projects that were showcased to the community in March.

Selected by their principals, students attended 90-minute learning sessions twice weekly on Shorter’s campus to plan, design, and implement science projects that went far beyond the traditional tri-board focus. “It’s really important that students have the opportunity to experience the fun and creative world of science, technology, engineering and math,” said Gelfand, whose philanthropic giving to the advancement of science in young minds has been felt as far away as Africa. “The science fair gave each student a chance to pick their own interesting question and then explore that in amazing detail. It’s definitely hands-on experimenting, which students everywhere crave.”

SCIO cultivates students’ teamwork skills, said Dr. Chuck Wynn, dean of Shorter’s School of Education and Social Sciences. “The teamwork concept is particularly critical for middle school students as they learn to value other opinions, brainstorm ideas, negotiate viewpoints, share responsibilities, and delegate workloads.”