Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
3
Year:
2021
Type of Events Held:
- Brain Fair
- Online/Virtual
- Other
- Other: The I submitted a proclamation request
- Other: and the City of Biddeford declared the week of March 15th
- Other: Brain Awareness Week
Target Audiences:
- Elementary school students (1-5)
Approximate Number of People Reached:
over 500
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
The Neuroscience Center’s virtual Brain Fair consisted of two separate events. First, each day during Brain Awareness Week one or two eBooks were released to the public. Links to the eBooks were shared on social media and were accessible through an on-line library using https://bookcreator.com/. These eBooks were created in part by UNE Neuroscience club and were supplemented with STEM activities and videos. While we were successful in making seven eBooks, the time it took to create and edit each book took much longer than anticipated, and we were not able to create as many eBooks as originally planned. Going forward, it would be more prudent to create less books, and focus on making the content enjoyable and easy to read. The second event during The Neuroscience Center’s virtual Brain Fair consisted of sending home supplies with first through third grade students to do five to six of the activities that we normally have at our annual Brain Fair. Supplies for each activity was provided in a kit, along with and informational packet and directions on how to do each activity. We successfully complied 500 kits, which were delivered to two local schools. One of the challenges we ran into was the amount of time it took to put together each packet. We felt it was necessary to individually divide materials into plastic Ziploc bags to reduce work for the teachers and make it easier to sanitize and follow each school’s COVID safety protocols. In the future, hopefully supplies can be delivered to schools in bulk and each item can distributed by the STEM teacher.
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Emails
- Social Media
Which of These Publicity Methods Was The Most Successful?
Resources
What downloadable materials from the Foundation did you use for your events?
- Puzzles: BAW Favorites
- Kids' Fact Sheets Grades 3-5
- Lesson Plans Grades K-5
What other downloadable materials would you like the Foundation to provide?
- New Lesson Plans
- Activities/Experiments
Which BAW graphic materials did you use in publicizing your events?
- Brain Awareness Week Logos
- Brain Awareness Week Facebook Cover Image
Feedback & Keys to Success
How do you feel BAW participation benefited your organization and the local community?
This experience was very educational for the undergraduate students who worked on creating our eBooks. It required them to have a complete understanding about a neuroscience topic, but simplify it so a third grader would enjoy it. In our local community, not all students are having sciences classes due to schedule changes and restraints due to COVID. Therefore, being able to provide local kids with science lessons during this time was extra important.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
Always allow for more time that you think you need. Simplify things as much as possible without losing the objective of your mission.
Did/do you like our Facebook page?
Yes
Was the information provided on Facebook useful?
I get most of my information about Brain Awareness Week and the Dana Foundation through email. I do like the Instagram posts that I follow on my personal account.
