Outreach with my stamp of approval
In 2018, I became aware of an outreach program that was totally up my alley. First off, I love sending snail mail. Fun fact about myself, I have a huge collection of Forever Stamps! Secondly, I love translating big, scary, science to yummy bite size morsels of delicious understandings. Enter Letters to a Pre-Scientists (LPS). LPS is a non-profit organization that matches scientists with grade school students in underserved communities through letter writing. You can read more about their mission and values here, program opportunities here and can donate here!).
Over the school year LPS facilitates a correspondence between scientist and pre-scientists through hand written letters. As eager as I was to send my first letter, after orientation, I wasn’t matched with a student. LPS draws in so many incredible scientists, they sometimes don’t have enough students to pair with. Their goal is to match students with scientists who fit the students personal and scientific interests. This often leads to easier conversation and more engaging content for the students. It just so happened my metrics didn’t fit the year’s supply of students…. that is until a new student entered joined an LPS classroom over 2018 winter break! I was called in off the bench to write letters for the remainder of the school year. I couldn’t have been happier to have the opportunity!
My student was incredibly eager to learn about my research and how SCUBA diving works. We also discussed our favorite sports teams and what kind of music we both listened too. The following year I applied again and this time was matched from the beginning!! My pen pal and I hit it off right away. She was a 6th grader interested in sports, science, and crafts. We couldn’t have been a better fit. I introduced her to the wild world of worms highlighting how worms, and other animals, can produce their own light. She shared with me that she was learning to code in class and that she had recently knit a hat for her brother. One cool kid!
An excerpt from a letter I wrote my pen pal during the 2019-2020 school year explaining what a graduate student is and introducing her to my work.
So far, I’m 1.5 for 3 in terms of being matched with a Pre-Scientist. For the 22-23 school year I’ve signed up again to participate in the program. We’ll have our orientation and training soon, and come Fall I’ll know if I’ve been matched. Fingers crossed!!
