WCA is starting a Westside Archive
Call for Submissions
Have you been involved in any initiative, course, project, research, mentoring, or other type of service that focuses on neighborhoods on the westside of Atlanta or issues that plague the westside? The WCA wants to hear from you. In the past semester alone, GT has had projects across the institution that concentrated their efforts in the Westside on topics such as brownfield revitalization, community mapping, designing and planning a multimodal transit boulevard, development of tools to track urban farm productivity, engaging high school students in bioengineering research, and several ongoing mentoring and tutoring programs. We request materials from any and all relevant GT projects whether faculty- or student-led, current or within the last two decades, in either digital or physical format. This includes reports, maps, posters, presentations, links to maintained websites, physical models of buildings and neighborhoods, photographs of community events, and much more.
Purpose of the Archive
The archive will act as a central repository for any and all GT work on the westside and will be available for community members, current faculty and students, and other higher-educational institutions to research and review. An archive has the capacity to serve multiple functions, it can:
- Become a portfolio of successful projects and an example of “best practices” of community engagement when conducting research in neighborhoods such as those found on the westside.
- Prevent duplicated research efforts
- Prevent overburdening any one community as a research subject.
- Point to neighborhoods that are either oversaturated or lacking in institutional assistance or attention.
- Aid in the visioning process of future project development.
Community members and leaders, government officials, local businesses, non-profit organizations, funders, and churches are examples of groups interested in the work that goes on within GT, especially when it involves or could potentially impact their neighborhood. Access to these projects fosters the ability to collaborate with students and faculty to implement, enhance, or continue the planning work, or connect them with additional resources or interested third parties.
What is the Westside Communities Alliance?
The Westside Communities Alliance is a communications network developed in 2011 by Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of the Liberal Arts, the College of Architecture, and the Office of Government and Community Relations with community partners. Over the past two years there has been a steady increase of on-campus interest to work with Westside communities and schools as well as community interest in partnering with Georgia Tech. The Ivan Allen College of the Liberal Arts and the College of Architecture currently facilitate quarterly meetings, a listserv, and a Westside Communities Alliance website as the basis for this ongoing communications network with Westside neighbors and partner organizations. The Alliance aims to create cross-community connections among GT, other universities, neighborhood associations, businesses, City of Atlanta, Atlanta Fire Rescue, Atlanta Public Schools, direct service organizations, non-profits, and others.
Feel free to view and distribute the WCA Archive Press Release.
Atlanta’s NPR station now following Project ENGAGE
Jim Burress, from WABE.org and 90.1 FM, is following the story of 12 Westside high school students as they progress through Project ENGAGE, which stands for Engaging New Generations at Georgia Tech through Engineering.
NPR Stories:
Read about the Project ENGAGE Mentor Match Luncheon here.
30 students from the single gender high schools B.E.S.T. Academy and Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy applied and 12 were selected to participate. Professor Emeritus Robert Nerem, working with the program, says that they admitted 12 instead of the planned 10 as a result of the high-quality pool of applicants.
In addition to conducting paid laboratory research in the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, the program is proving to be a great model for interdisciplinary interaction within Georgia Tech. The mentors had a training session with Taneisha Lee, Program Director of the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC). Lee Baker, president-elect of Georgia Tech Black Alumni Association came and spoke to the scholars about the concept of “belonging”.
The program began with a four week cell biology boot camp led by Dr. Manu Platt. Professional development activities learned through the program include: written and oral communication; data analysis; time management; and accessing online databases. In the coming month, scholars will participate in Responsible Conduct in Research training from Senior Academic Professional Jason Bornstein in Ivan Allen College of the Liberal Arts and industry visits to a cell therapy company and a medical company.
Nerem says that Project ENGAGE is meant to inspire the scholars to aspire to a life of possibilities.
On July 26th, the scholars will be giving short oral presentations about their research thusfar followed by a poster exhibition and luncheon. For more information about Project ENGAGE, please contact Robert Nerem at 404-894-2768.
Communicating Science to the Public
Dr. Jennifer Leavey, Integrated Sciences Curriculum Coordinator, College of Sciences, GA Tech
In preparation for the Atlanta Science Festival to be held March 22-29, 2014 in Centennial Olympic Park, students in this course will develop communication skills and scientific expertise in the context of designing, creating, implementing, and assessing informal science education exhibits or demonstrations. The students will bring their demonstrations to Westside K-12 schools to complement classroom science instruction and assess the effectiveness of each project in meeting learning objectives.
If you are an Honors Program student interested in taking the course (BIOL2803), find registration information here.
Project ENGAGE Mentor Match Ceremony & Luncheon
At a luncheon on Monday June 17th, 2013 in Georgia Tech’s U.A. Whitaker Biomedical Engineering building, 12 students from B.E.S.T. Academy and Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy (CSKYWLA) were matched up with their mentors and respective laboratories. After spending the first two weeks of the program in the classroom learning proper laboratory protocol and an intensive science curriculum, the students participated in a speed dating process geared at matching students to mentors. Today, they were given their white laboratory coats during a candle-lighting and reveal ceremony.
Project ENGAGE (Engaging New Generations at Georgia Tech through Engineering) is a new internship program that pays local high school students to actively participate in current scientific research under the guidance of Master’s and PhD students and faculty members. The students were chosen after a selection process that included creating a resume, providing reference letters, and complete an in-person interview. The internship will continue throughout the 2013-2014 school year and involves two faculty members, one from each academy. The goal of the program is two-fold: to raise high-school student awareness of the biotechnology world through hands-on research projects and to improve the schools’ current science education program through the teacher training initiative.
See more about the CSKYWLA ENGAGE scholars here.