Status 2007-2008 : Active
Contact: troy@sciencedays.org

Chapter Directors: 

2008-2009:

Alice Li, Class of 2010

Because of her personal interest in science as well as her love for children, Alice decided to lead the Troy ScienceDays chapter to foster the younger generation's curiosity for science. She believes that science is the outcome of continuously asking, “Why?”, which she finds an exciting and intriguing question because one answer creates so many more questions. Her passion for science is increased by her experience at Troy, a high school well grounded in math and technology. Thus, Alice wants to bring the knowledge and passion she develops at Troy to nearby elementary schools, in order to expose young children to the excitement of science.

During the 2008-9 school year, Alice directed several activities at Raymond and Beechwood Elementary schools during their Kid Zone after-school programs. At the most recent activity, ScienceDays mentors taught over forty Beechwood students about the circulatory and respiratory systems by explaining how the heart, blood vessels, and lungs coordinate. The students were amazed at the “magic” happening in their own bodies. They also thoroughly enjoyed the interactive activity, in which they measured their pulses before and after different exercises. Students were also introduced to the scientific method; their hypothesis was that running was the exercise that increases heart rate the most, their experiment was trying the different activities, and their conclusion was that among running, walking, jumping rope, playing hopscotch, and laying down, running increases heart rate the most and laying down the least. Overall, the activity stimulated students to ask questions, and in fact, many students initially shy and soft-spoken opened up by the activity's end, when they actually had to be asked to stop asking the mentors questions in order for everyone to go home! Parents later told Alice about their enthusiasm for ScienceDays' work with their children. As one mother put it, “Only you high school teenagers could bring such a high level of energy and positive influence to our children”.

ScienceDays' mission statement especially inspires Alice to direct and organize the chapter at Troy. She believes that ScienceDays uses the best method of teaching young children, which combines knowledge with hands-on interactive activities that stimulate the student's interest. Alice believes that through this combination, children will develop a desire to ask questions and an interest in obtaining knowledge. She says, “It is this exciting mentality that has always characterized, and will continue to characterize, science for the benefit of humanity”.

Past Chapter Directors:

2006-2008:

Charles Li, Class of 2007, Duke '11.
Clara Men, Class of 2007, Yale '11.
Upon deciding to found a ScienceDays chapter at Troy High School, Charles and Clara said, "We would like to involve the younger generation in ScienceDays in order to spark their interests in science.   Since Troy has a strong background in the sciences and technology, we want to bring the quality education we receive at Troy to the local elementary schools."  Both of them are motivated young leaders who have strong backgrounds in science.  They have participated in the Science Olympiad program at Troy and interned at the Department of Chemistry at Cal State Fullerton.  They contacted local venues such as Raymond Elementary, Acacia Elementary, and Commonwealth Elementary.  As chapter directors, Charles and Clara were responsible for establishing the relationship with the local elementary schools.  Charles also volunteers at the Inland Valley and Rehabilitation Center and is an INTERACT board member.  He also has a passion for science research.  His individual project "Theoretical Mechanisms and Atmospheric Implications of the Reaction of Methyl Vinyl Ether and the Hydroxyl Radical" was a regional finalist project at the 2006-2007 Siemens Competition at Stanford.

During the 2006-2007 school year, the Troy ScienceDays chapter visited Acacia Elementary School's Kidzone during their after-school program.  "In general, both the kids and the teacher were very enthusiastic about the lesson plans,"  Charles says, "During the fingerprinting lab, many of the kids enjoyed being able to see their own fingerprints, something that many of them had never done before. The children all enjoyed our lessons very much and many of them asked us when we were going to come back again! Overall, the club was a great success with the kids."