At the Lawrence Family Development Charter School (LFDCS) 89.6% of students are low income, 98.8% are minorities, and 92.8% did not learn English as a first language (2007 - 2008 LFDCS Annual Report). Growing up with this background, less than half of students in the city of Lawrence graduate from high school and even fewer will attend college. And without strong academic skills learned in these academic institutions many will not be able to find jobs allowing them to move out of poverty.
The Lawrence@MIT Program, facilitated by Gayle Christiansen, a DUSP graduate student and Teach for America alumnua, builds upon the successful efforts of former DUSP graduate student, Anne Schweiger, to coordinate monthly field trips for LFDCS eighth grade students to participate in science, technology, and engineering workshops presented by various groups on MIT’s campus. The program has two goals:
- Expand upon the content presented in the science classroom by using MIT’s vast resources so students can ultimately meet or surpass the state’s science MCAS achievement requirements, are prepared to achieve in high school and college, and have a greater interest in the field.
- Inspire students to set attending college as a personal goal by exposing them to what college students study, what it takes to get into college, and the college lifestyle.
Partners and Resources
The Lawrence@MIT program works with MIT@Lawrence as the coordination point or fulcrum between LFDCS and MIT. The Lawrence@MIT program seeks to meet the learning goals of LFDCS with the resources at MIT and thus needs to have an understanding of each side.
Lawrence
LFDCS: Connie Tarsook, LFDCS principal, and Jay Kelly, LFDCS 8th grade science teacher, are the main contacts in Lawrence.
MIT
The Public Service Center (PSC) K-12 list serve and individuals at the Edgerton Center provide a good start to understanding different organizations on campus that participate in middle school science outreach. The MIT Museum COPUS event held in the fall is also an opportunity to meet individuals in the Cambridge area who are interested in the same. During 2008-09, Lawrence@MIT program partnered with the following organizations for monthly workshops:
- Chemistry Outreach Program
- Edgerton Center
- MIT Admissions office
- MIT Museum
- Office of Engineering Outreach Programs (OEOP)
- Student Physics Society
- The Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT)
Find out more about how to Get Involved.
