MASTER Newsletter-July 25, 1996

As the MASTER Summer Program draws to a close, Ms. Stark and Ms. Grossberg want to praise the accomplishments of all participants.

Staff and students alike have worked diligently and with a zest for learning. The friendships MASTERITES have formed combined with the camaraderie exhibited during the Academic Olympics will serve you well as you prepare for careers in the next century.

The instructors have presented a series of stimulating and informative labs exposing students to experiments and data unavailable in the traditional high school setting. They have made the four weeks fly by and have brought excitement and great enthusiasm to the program.

We are proud of our MASTERITES interest in pursuing activities which are academically challenging. Endeavors such as MASTER will reflect well on future college applications.

Wishing you a very healthy and happy summer. We hope you will complete your summer reading while undertaking some very restful and pleasant activities.

David Fletcher is a man with a strong educational background. He received his Bachelor's degree at Appalachian State University, his Master's at the University of Michigan, and is working toward his doctorate at New York University. He's been working for the Lehman Center since 1993 and he has worked at Lehman College from 1985 to 1992. During the Academic Year, Mr. Fletcher works at South Bronx HS, Clinton HS, Walton HS, various junior high schools and elementary schools. He also teaches two graduate courses at Lehman College. David Fletcher has many reasons for participating in the MASTER/NASA program some of which include his high respect for the coordinators, Ms. Stark & Ms. Grossberg, and the quality of the program. He also enjoys working in this program because of it's well-organized methods of teaching students. He also enjoys working with Clinton HS teachers and students.

Thank You's

The MASTER Program wishes to extend a special thank you to the staff of Lehman College who have helped to make this program a reality:

Dr. Anne Rothstein
Ms. Rosalyn Krakowsky
Ms. Desirée Barnes
Ms. Grace Colón
Ms. Dena Rosario

Thursday, July 25, saw the culmination of a very exciting Academic Olympics Competition. With newspapers in hand and a heavy dose of team spirit, MASTERITES competed for the coveted "First Place" standing.

Ms. Stark began the activity by praising MASTERITES for their intense preparation and vociferous team spirit. All teams are winners and she hoped that MASTERITES enjoyed the challenge that competition such as this presents.

After an exciting and stimulating concluding round, the Academic Olympic scores ended as follows:

"Dangerous Minds"
The "Aces
The "Untouchables"
The "Dream Team"

1060
940
820
790

First
Second
Third
Fourth

Both Ms. Grossberg and Ms. Stark want to congratulate all teams for their sportsmanship, preparation, and enthusiasm. They hoped that MASTERITES not only acquired a great deal of knowledge from the competition, but had fun as well!

In addition, a special thank you goes to both teachers and group leaders for the assistance in preparing their teams for this exciting activity.

A trip to the Museum of Natural History and Hayden Planetarium by Lilian Paulino, Group Leader

The MASTERITES visit to the Museum of Natural History was an opportunity for the MASTERITES to learn from a movie titled "Storm Chasers" how hurricanes are formed and how they are monitored by the Control Center. In addition, they visualized how strong storms are identified by testing winds and the amount of electrical charges given off.

In the museum, a few MASTERITES like Sochivly Ou and Jose Brito from Group C demonstrated a fascination for the dinosaur exhibit where they saw a complete skeletal structure of a triceratops which died approximately 65 million years ago. Other students involved themselves with the evolution of man. The MASTERITES also got a chance to see how creative they can be while performing origami. To end the trip the MASTERITES went to the Planetarium to see a movie on the cosmos which explained about stars and tells how confusing they can be. When the movie ended we got together and headed our separate ways towards home.

The MASTER program is a critical link in the Lehman College vision of a K-Ph.D. program continuum to enhance Bronx student achievement in mathematics, science and technology. This summer, because of the New York State budget delays, we were fortunate to receive funding from NASA through its Precollege Awards for Excellence in Mathematics, Science, Engineering and Technology (PACE/MSET) grant program. While this dictated a smaller program and a focus on Physical Climate and Earth Systems, it is a tribute to the program coordinators, Ms. Stark and Ms. Grossberg, that we were able to initiate this program at this time. In giving us this grant NASA recognized the critical impact of project-based, hands-on programs and high school/college collaboration.

The program has received a three year funding award, thus we will be able to use our experience this summer to offer a program during the academic year and for next summer which is modified according to student and coordinator experiences of this summer. Since you, the students are the consumers and beneficiaries of the program you are encouraged to communicate openly about what would improve the program and provide for greater student achievement. This is especially important since the content of the program has changed and an Internet and computing component has been added.

Lehman Mathematics, Science and Technology programs serve students at the Elementary level (and their parents) through a Goals 2000 program, middle school and high school students are served through the Science and Technology Entry Program, high school students and their teachers are served through the DDE IIA program. Lehman also has two programs which target post-MASTER students: the Hughes Biomedical Program and the Einstein Lehman Partnership for Access to Medicine. Both of these programs are coordinated by Dr. Clarence Branch. Students who are interested in finding out more about these program should contact Dr. Branch.

The vision that I hold, that there can be a K-Ph.D. pathway in MST which can lead to future college and career success for Bronx students, energizes my work in pursuing the funding that is needed to maintain and continue the programs that have been developed and successful over the last 12 years. It is important that we all remember that "Life is not a dress rehearsal." We each have one chance to get it right. I hope we can all continue to work together to achieve a brighter and more productive future for The Bronx.