Westside Communities Alliance

A partnership between Atlanta's westside communities and institutions of higher education.

OurGirls @ Tech 2017

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Last month, 45 female students from Brown Middle School attended a STEM campus experience at Georgia Tech for the WCA’s annual OurGirls @ Tech event. Given Atlanta Public School’s new direction towards STEM and STEAM, the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts aims to create opportunities for exposure to local colleges and universities. While Brown Middle School is only a 12 minute bus drive away, many students are unfamiliar with Georgia Tech and all of its offerings.

This year, the girls attended demonstrations led by an all-female crew of students and staff. They stopped by the Clough Undergraduate Learning Center (CULC) to see the Urban Honey Bee Project led by Dr. Jennifer Leavey. The Technology Group visited the retroTECH to play with vintage computers, video games, and more. The Women in Electrical and Computing Engineering (WECE) demonstrated how to build a wind turbine out of everyday objects. Across campus. The Mathematics group learned how to code their own music songs using rhythm and beats with EarSketch.

Brown MS students learn how to code and create their own music with Georgia Tech’s EarSketch program

 

The photo scavenger hunt took them to the water slide in the recreation center, a dining hall, the bowling alley, and several popular student hang-out spots on campus.

Catered lunch took place overlooking Historic Grant Field at Bobby Dodd Stadium in the Student Success Center, while the Dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts spoke about the importance of their presence on campus. Jade Sims, from the Office of Admissions, used the GPA game to stress the importance of grades, extracurricular activities, and tailored admissions essays when applying to college. Current female student athletes talked about an appropriate study-life balances, camaraderie, and the diversity of scholarships at Tech.

45 Brown MS attend OurGirls @ Tech in 2017

Washington Park Community Service with GT OMED Students

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Early on a Saturday morning, 12 bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Georgia Tech students – OMED (Office of Minority Educational Development) Challenge counselors with Andre Dickens, Assistant Director of Outreach Initiatives with OMED – met at Ashby Circle Playlot ready to volunteer with the Washington Park Community Club and Neighborhood Association, led by Christi Jackson. Some volunteers even walked from Tech’s campus to be there.

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The first order of duty was to canvass the Washington Park neighborhood to complete a survey of: vacant properties, senior citizens, pet-owners, home-owners v. renters, and structures with fire damage.

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After canvassing, the students began cleaning up the park. Located near a ravine, the park is plagued with stormwater surges rushing through the area. Many of the tree roots suffer are exposed from soil run-off and the grassy areas are littered with broken glass and debris making it unsafe for actual play. West Atlanta Watershed Alliance arranged mulch to be delivered and students covered the exposed roots to provide more stabilization. Other students worked to pick up trash, broken glass, and some interesting car parts that were found on the playground.

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See the entire photo album on our Facebook page

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Communicating Science to the Public

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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

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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.

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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.

GT Professor talks about Stadium Deal

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Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at Georgia Tech, Benjamin Flowers, sits down with WABE’s Denis O’Hayer. With his expertise in major projects such as skyscrapers and stadiums, he provides insight on things such as revenue, retractable roofs, and traffic issues that could affect the new Falcons stadium.

http://wabe.org/post/some-stadium-deal-questions-remain-talk-georgia-tech-assoc-prof-benjamin-flowers

Credit: Georgia Tech