Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
2
Year:
2016
Type of Events Held:
- Exhibit
- School Program
Target Audiences:
- High School students(9-12)
- Middle school students(6-8)
Approximate Number of People Reached:
600
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
We celebrated BAW this year by providing 2 educational outreach events, one at Preston Middle School and one at Poudre High School in Fort Collins, Colorado. Several posters were upgraded prior to this year’s events with help from 2 Poudre School District Post-Secondary and Workforce Ready (PWR) interns. For each school, 10-11 interactive stations and supplies were brought to the school and set-up prior to the event. Each station had an informative poster, an interactive component and 1-2 volunteers to guide students through the information and activities. Over 100 volunteers from CSU helped staff stations. Topics included the Auditory System and Noise-Induced Hearing Loss, Epilepsy, Bullying and the Brain, Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke, Alzheimer’s Disease, Diabetes and the Nervous system, Human and Animal Neuroanatomy, Drosophila Neuromuscular Junction, Visual Perception & Illusions and the Chemical Senses. Consistent with previous years, both the human and animal neuroanatomy stations had real brain specimens that the students could hold and touch with gloves. The fruit fly station had temperature sensitive Shibere mutant drosophila to demonstrate the effect of dynamin malfunction on motor function, and the utility of fruit flies in research. Many of the stations had brain erasers, pencils, Mind Bogglers books and other booklets provided by the Dana Foundation. These were given to students who asked questions or who answered questions raised by CSU volunteers after the presentation and activities. The department of Biomedical Sciences at CSU provided funding for BAW t-shirts for volunteers. Both events were a great success, with multiple positive comments from the middle and high school students and their teachers
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Advertisements
- Calendar Listings (newspapers, radio, television)
- Press Release/Media Advisory
Other Publicity Methods:
The teachers I worked with announced the opportunity to other teachers at their schools. I used multiple methods to recruit volunteers to help with each event including those listed above as well as announcing the opportunity in my classes and to fellow faculty members.
Which of These Publicity Methods Was The Most Successful?
Resources
Of the Dana Foundation publications/resources distributed at your event(s), if any, please indicate the three most popular. Please choose up to three. If "other," please indicate below:
- It’s Mindboggling!
- BAW Pencils and Erasers
- BAW Buttons
What other downloadable materials would you like the Foundation to provide?
- Activities/Experiments
- New Puzzles/Games
Which BAW graphic materials did you use in publicizing your events?
- BAW Logos
Feedback & Keys to Success
How do you feel BAW participation benefited your organization and the local community?
BAW benefits CSU by allowing our undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students share their love of neuroscience in a small group setting. This enables them to teach the topics that they’ve been learning about in a fun interactive setting. The community learns more about neuroscience and middle and high school students get the opportunity to interact with university students and faculty. Immediate outcomes include fostering collaboration between CSU and the local public school district.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
I’ve been helping with BAW for almost 15 years now and the key is planning and organization since a successful program requires recruitment and training of so many volunteers. Communication between the BAW coordinator and the local public school personnel is also very important.
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