Newsletter #8
September 11, 2006
Greetings,
PLEASE REGISTER!
We have extended the registration date for the September 16 MRU Forum at Kansas State University until Friday, September 15, 2006. Please register at www.missouristate.edu/mru. Please also check this website for directions to K-State and directions to parking lots at K-State.
September 16, 2006 Forum!
Join our Midwest Rural-Urban Girls Collaborative Forum!
Location: Kansas State University on September 16, 2006!
Fiedler Auditorium (Room 1107)
8:30 AM - 12:15 PM
$1000 Grants are available for you!
Teachers & Counselors are welcome!
K-12 educators are welcome!
Government agencies are welcome!
Business organizations are welcome!
People & Organizations interested in Science, Technology, Engineering,
& Mathematics are welcome!
The purpose of this forum is bring together people and organizations so that they can learn about successful collaborations and can collaborate in various ways that will encourage girls into Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics.
LISTSERV AS A DISCUSSION TOOL
We would like to
use the MRU listserv also as a discussion tool. If you would like to
discuss a topic, please click on reply to this e-mail and then I will
send the information to all of you. (Please let me know that you want your
e-mail sent to all.)
If you have a need or if you are willing to share some of your resources, please let us know. For instance, you might have a computer room that you are not using at a certain time and might be willing to share that room with an organization. You might need speakers for an after school program or you might be willing to be a speaker. You may also want to advertise your events. Please let us know of your activities and needs and we will share our information.
QUIRKLES UPDATE
Sherry Cooke and Terri Johnson will be at the upcoming K-State Forum and
will discuss the Quirkles.
(Information received from "Quirkles listserv)
Here's the latest Quirkles update...
As school starts, hundreds of school children will meet the Quirkles.
We know of schools in Missouri, Arkansas, Arizona, Louisiana, New York, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, and more, who are getting familiar with the series in the next few months. The Quirkles have just made their debut in Australia in the last month as well and are the focus of a class project in China this semester. Also we especially welcome our newest vendor partners!
New products have now arrived. In addition to the Quirkles books, we also now have giant posters, wall hangings/giant flash cards, and blackline coloring books to enhance classroom or home use.
We are looking forward to pairing up with our sister company--educational enrichment company, Fiction,Facts and Fun to be able to offer some teacher training activities. Fiction, Facts and Fun will be moving to its new facility in the French Quarter Shopping Center in Springfield, September 2006.
Quirkles creators Sherry Cook, Terri Johnson and Jesse Kuhn will be featured at two Greene County Library events this fall, Missouri State's Homecoming celebration, October 28, signing books at Meyer Library, and will serve as presenters at Kansas State and Missouri State as part of the Midwestern Rural-Urban Girls Collaborative Initiative. Check out our website, www.quirkles.com for more expanded information on these and other events. If you would like to schedule an event, please email or give us a call. While we are pretty booked through the fall, we are looking at dates in early 2007.
Speaking of grant funding, for educators, see the possibilities for collaborative educational mini grants offered via MRU through this National Science Foundation funded program. We welcome one such school Fairview, out of West Plains, Missouri. They have designed a wonderful project that pairs at risk middle schooler's in an afterschool mentoring program with first graders using the Quirkles. There will be another round of grants funded late this fall. Again, there is a link on our website.
We still have several schools who would love to have the Quirkles in their classrooms but do not have the funding available. If you would consider donating a set, let us know and we'll match you up. Also remember to keep the Quirkles in mind for birthday or upcoming holiday gifts.
As always thanks for your support!
QUESTIONS
Please feel free to contact me with your comments and questions. Please feel free to give copies of this newsletter to your colleagues.
Dr. Paula Kemp
Email Paula.
Principal Investigator, MRU Project (supported by National Science Foundation)
