Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
4
Year:
2021
Type of Events Held:
- Brain Fair
- Lecture/Briefing
- School Program
- Workshop
Target Audiences:
- Elementary school students (1-5)
- General Public
- High school students (9-12)
- Middle school students (6-8)
- Patients & Caregivers
- University students
Approximate Number of People Reached:
500
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
The Brain Awareness Week 2021 planning committee is grateful for the support of our project and especially support for keeping the program alive in a virtual format for 2021. During the fifth annual Brain Awareness Week, focus was on mental health and the effects of stress on the brain. Grounding the sessions in the current pandemic’s impact on our community, we hosted a series of online events to explore our neurological reactions to the pandemic. We successfully held the following 4 events: 1) 14 virtual school visits, 2) 2 asynchronous activity sessions with Children’s After School Achievement (CASA) and Step Up students, 3) 1 Keynote Speaker, 4) 21 concurrent sessions for Brain Day. All events were well attended: 433 K-12 students reached with school visits. 28 K-12 students reached on Brain Day plus their families. 45 attended the Keynote Speaker. 27 Hope students volunteered with school visits. 7 Hope students volunteered on Brain Day. 82 volunteer hours were put in by Hope students. Overall, our program was very successful. We are very grateful to have received a grant from the DANA Foundation.
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Advertisements
- Calendar Listings (newspapers, radio, television)
- Emails
- Posters/Flyers
- Press Release/Media Advisory
- Website
- Social Media
Which of These Publicity Methods Was The Most Successful?
Resources
What downloadable materials from the Foundation did you use for your events?
- Lesson Plans Grades K-5
- Lesson Plans Grades 6-8
- Lesson Plans Grades 9-12
What other downloadable materials would you like the Foundation to provide?
- New Fact Sheets
- New Lesson Plans
- Activities/Experiments
- New Puzzles/Games
Which BAW graphic materials did you use in publicizing your events?
- Brain Awareness Week Logos
Feedback & Keys to Success
How do you feel BAW participation benefited your organization and the local community?
Community members learned about the importance of the brain, careers relating to neuroscience, and helped to reach diverse members of the community to excite them about science and the brain. Hope College students learned science outreach skills, speaking to school audiences and demonstrating science at Brain Day. Additionally, the collaboration between the Neuroscience Program, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), and ExploreHope Outreach created an impactful interdisciplinary program.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
Advertise early. Virtual events are challenging–in-person events are often more appealing.
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