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The American Association of University Women Community Action Grant

Sponsors: 

• Mercer University
• Mercer Center for Community Development
• Bibb County Public Schools
• American Association of University Women (AAUW)
• American Honda Foundation

Project Director: Dr. Linda Hensel

Project Co-director: Dr. Hope McIlwain

Abstract

We propose a summer math and science camp for talented, minority girls. Our goal is to reinforce students’ math and science interests early in their education. The project will enable the girls to succeed in a unique scientific endeavor and to be connected with tiered mentorship in the community.

Project Description

We plan to pilot a two-week math and science camp for fifth and sixth grade girls. We will build a coalition between Mercer University, the Bibb County Public School system, the local AAUW chapter, and citizens of the community in order to establish an annual camp that would service the same needs as our pilot camp. The girls will be selected for the camp through an academically focused competition carried out by the targeted Bibb County Public Schools, John W. Burke and Ingram/Pye Elementary Schools. The targeted schools service Macon's Central South neighborhood. The camp will be a two-week long day camp with the following intended outcomes:

1. enhance each girl's confidence in her ability to be successful in math and science; 
2. allow each girl to become comfortable with state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and computer facilities; 
3. create an atmosphere where the girls can develop relationships with both high school and college student mentors that are themselves successful in math and/or science; 
4. provide a format for the girls to present their scientific projects to the community, both through a formal open poster session and by producing a page for our summer camp’s Web page (see our Departmental Web Page, and Wesleyan-college.edu/Spectacles for a sample summer camp Web Page);
5. allow the girls to experience workplaces where math and science are used, particularly where women and/or minorities are employed in the top positions;
6. create a coalition between the Bibb County Public School system, Mercer University, the local AAUW chapter, and citizens of the Central South neighborhood that will continue similar efforts of this nature in future summers. 

We plan to achieve these objectives with both traditional and innovative pedagogy. The entire program will occur with active involvement of a tiered-mentoring team. One high school student and one college student will mentor each group of four girls. Our high school mentors will be scientifically talented female students at Southeast and Southwest High Schools, the high schools into which the targeted schools feed. The college students will be female science, math, and computer science majors from Mercer University. Individual successes in math exercises and scientific experiments will be complimented with enthusiastic praise and support from the mentors. (Orenstein, 1994; Grant, 1992)