Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
2
Year:
2017
Type of Events Held:
- Exhibit
- Other
- Other: Brain Bee
Target Audiences:
- General Public
- High School students(9-12)
Approximate Number of People Reached:
300
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
The sixth annual Alaska Brain Bee was held Saturday February 11, 2017, in the auditorium of the Anchorage Museum in partnership with the UAA. This year’s Brain Bee winner was Xinuri Bao, a junior at Wasilla High School (a record 21 participants competed). This year’s Brain Bee began with a practice question round followed by activity stations exploring different themes in neuroscience. UAA Biological Sciences students enrolled in the Neurophysiology course taught by Caroline Wilson, PhD (Brain Bee organizer & Assistant Professor in the WWAMI School of Medical Education) led the activities as part of the service learning component of their course. Activities included sheep brain dissections, motor control with “goofy” goggles, and facial electromyography. Students then competed in three rounds to determine the winner. UAA students were involved as volunteers as part of their service learning component to their course. UAA Students reflected that they had an amazing time and learned how important it is to be advocates for neuroscience research and education. Our second event was a poster display at the UAA Consortium Library for BAW. One Neurophysiology student, Show Wang, made a poster displaying mental illness disorders and accompanying books, journals, and pamphlets were laid around the poster. BAW brain erasers, pamphlets, and pencils were also put out for the public to take.
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
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:
- Q&A: Answering Your Questions About Brain Research
- BAW Pencils and Erasers
What other downloadable materials would you like the Foundation to provide?
- Lesson Plans
- Activities/Experiments
Which BAW graphic materials did you use in publicizing your events?
- BAW Logos
- BAW Web site banner
Feedback & Keys to Success
How do you feel BAW participation benefited your organization and the local community?
BAW participation is a great way to have people in our small community learn more about brain health. Immediate outcomes include hundreds of people learning about mental illness, many teenagers who may consider future employment as neuroscientists, doctors or researchers, and increased knowledge about the brain to everyone we reached!
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
Plan early and make sure to put DANA on your calendar each January when you want materials for your event.
Did/do you like our Facebook page?
Yes
Was the information provided on Facebook useful?
More suggestions on how to plan for events!
