Announcements
National Center for Youth Science Education
The Foundation, with input from alumni, educators and architects, has developed a plan to construct a facility to house new programs for teachers and students. The proposed Center will be an energy-saving residential community capable of housing up to 250 students and an adequate number of staff members and visiting scientists. It will be constructed in a location chosen for natural attributes that promote program objectives. The quality of the diverse natural environment will be preserved for environmental observational research. The proposed Center will become a focal point for informal science education, one that will encourage and inspire youth to pursue scientific careers. The Foundation is seeking commitments for funding to build the facility. Companies and foundations are asked to become investors with West Virginia and the federal government in the funding of this facility segment by segment so as to give appropriate recognition to those who invest.
Jewel: Youth Science Camp
June 21, 2009 -- The Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Out in California, the San Jose Business Journal printed profiles of "40 under 40" -- bright young business stars of Silicon Valley.
One was about Marissa Mayer, youthful vice president of the world's foremost online search engine. It said she "heads the search division of Google Inc., a global technology leader that made more than $21 billion in revenue last year." It said she was one of Google's first female engineers.
How did she rise to science prominence? She glowingly praised West Virginia's National Youth Science Camp, where she was a high school delegate from Wisconsin in 1993. She said she was tantalized by science "puzzles and solutions" at the rugged mountain camp -- especially those of offbeat instructor Zoon Nguyen. She explained:
"The counselors said -- and I remember this because it sounded like a parable -- 'It's not what Zoon knows, it's how he thinks.'" (more)
Breakthrough: Science camp is world class
For more than 40 years we have welcomed bright and curious young people from around the country and then wished them well as they set off for Bartow, home of the National Youth Science Camp.
Two students from each state spend a week under clear Pocahontas County skies. They have a chance to learn, eat, play and converse with some of the best scientists in many different fields. The professors have a chance to rekindle their own enthusiasm. The camp galvanizes the intellectual appetites of young people who are already interested in medicine, physics, chemistry or other fields, says Darrin Magee, a 1990 alum and executive director of the National Youth Science Camp Foundation. (more)
