Outreach program gets a campus home

There's no place like home. And now the Science-Mentoring Program, a program involving more than 150 University students who act as mentors for fourth through eighth graders at 23 area schools, finally has one -- Blockley Hall. The program, which started in 1989 as a suggestion by a high school principal, has now become an important part of science education for hundreds of Philadelphia school children. President Sheldon Hackney and State Senator Chaka Fattah (D-Philadelphia) both praised the program at a ribbon-cutting ceremony and joined in celebrating its success and growth. Hackney said the program strengthens the University's community outreach mission by helping local children become more interested in the sciences. "The great aim in learning is to serve humanity," Hackney said. Fattah, whose district includes the University, said the program shows that the University focuses on helping the surrounding community and stressed the importance of the program. "The University has led the way . . . without moving [away] from the real mission of the University," he said. "Young people need to interact with people who care about them. The mentoring program is in so many ways a take-off from that." The program is just one of several smaller programs of PENNlincs -- a program which brings together University and Philadelphia institutions through various research projects and programs. The program was founded by University administrators Pamela Freyd and Jean Roberts, who now serve as co-directors of the program and of PENNlincs. Funding is supplied by the National Science Foundation, which gave its largest educational grant in its history -- $864,000 -- to the program in 1990. While it is considered a pilot program, there are plans to expand the program to other cities. "[The program] had the potential for national significance," NSF said upon presenting the program with the grant in 1990. Although the program was designed for both undergraduate and graduate University science and mathematics students, students from every field of interest are welcome to become mentors. "If you are involved with PENNlincs, you don't have to be a science person," College senior and English major Eric Aroesty said. University students go to an assigned school once a week, and each student is grouped with four or five middle school children who have an interest in science. They work together on experiments ranging from testing pH levels to combining chemicals to observe different reactions that result in color changes. Whatever the experience, University students and Philadelphia youths have said they enjoy working together and having fun while doing something educational. "It's a hands-on experience," College senior Ali Jalili said. "I have gotten a lot of insight as to what it's like to teach." Some students said they volunteered because of their interest in science, while others volunteered for the opportunity to teach. Students also work for PENNlincs to do analysis research. "I wanted to get a chance to teach," Aroesty said. "This is one of those things to satisfy an urge [that I wouldn't otherwise get to act on]." The program also serves as a research project for some University students. "I am trying to track the effect of the mentoring program," said Wharton and College junior Vladimir Bernstein, a research assistant PENNlincs. "The standardized scores of the students participating in the program are much higher in many ways than [those of students not involved with the program]."

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