Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
2
Year:
2022
Type of Events Held:
- Brain Bee
- Conference/Forum
- Lecture/Briefing
Target Audiences:
- Elementary school students (1-5)
- High school students (9-12)
- Middle school students (6-8)
- University students
Approximate Number of People Reached:
224 students grades K-12
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
Due to COVID-19 concerns, we offered the option of either online and in-person activities to teachers interested in participating. Since many of the schools in our area are now open for in person classes, we dropped off activity materials to the schools. Our volunteers were able to attend the schools physically to conduct the activities with their assigned classrooms. Undergraduate and Graduate students as well as Post Docs and Faculty at the University of Florida led various interactive lessons and activities with the students this year. Our chapter also partnered with the UF BRAIN Center to stress the importance of brain safety and wearing helmets. They generously donated helmets for giveaways to the students as part of the UF Helmet Safety Initiative. Overall, even though there were still concerns for COVID-19 and less teachers opted to participate in BAW this year, we feel that we have achieved our goals.
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Emails
- Posters/Flyers
- 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?
- Puzzles: Grades K-2
- Puzzles: Grades 3-5
- Puzzles: Successful Aging & Your Brain
- Kids' Fact Sheets Grades 3-5
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?
- Brain Awareness Week Logos
Feedback & Keys to Success
How do you feel BAW participation benefited your organization and the local community?
The most immediate outcome from the event was the feedback we received was excitement from the teachers that the event would be held in person this year. We have also received very positive feedback from parents and teachers about the knowledge gained by their students through our lessons and their joy over participating in our event.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
Given unknown factors associated with COVID 19, it has been difficult to recruit interested schools and teachers in advance. However, with continued communication between us and the teachers, we feel confident that we can continue to plan a safe and fun event for the students. Whether that is virtual or in person, we are ready to accommodate changes in the state of the pandemic.
