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Our Mentors Are Role Models
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On Tuesday, March 16, the Salem State College Collaborative Project for Math, Science, and Interdisciplinary Education (SSC-CPMSIE) hosted its 19th Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Conference. More than 400 young women from collaborating middle schools attended the workshops. Veterinarians, doctors, scientists, businesswomen, architects, and other dynamic women led the workshops.
This was the third year that we've participated in the conference. We presented three workshops on the careers of physical therapist, physical therapy assistant, and physical therapist aid to a total of approximately 65 young women, parents, and teachers.
The Belmont, Mass., Recreation Department held a CAMKit "mini-camp" on February 26 for Belmont 6th and 7th graders. The "campers" learned about careers in health care, business, and engineering from women in these careers.
CAMKit offers one- and two-week vacation and summer camps in which participants explore three careers. We offer evening or after-school mini-camps as a way to be introduced to a career in a short time.)
In addition to workshop leaders CPA Myrna Stacey, Environmental Compliance Manager Mary White, and Pediatric Nurse Anne Aisenberg, our thanks to Camp Director (and Engineer) Hal Weiner and Belmont Recreation Department administrator June Howell and her staff.
Myrna Stacey, a CPA from Natick, Mass., has her own company. She set up a gift store to show participants how stores track sales, costs of goods and services, and how a basic bookkeeping system works. Students played roles such as store owner, CPA, shoppers, bookkeeper, stock clerks, etc. They learned about some other financial tools that are useful to a businesses owner.
Pediatric Nurse Anne Aisenberg, a Newton, Mass., resident, explained vital signs and showed students how to take their pulse, measure blood pressure, etc. She also told the participants that good health depends on good nutrition. Anne Aisenberg works at the Southboro Medical Group in Framingham.
Environmental Compliance Manager Mary White tested water from Belmont's Clay Pit Pond with participants. She showed them how to test for several indicators of water quality. Mary works for the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). Note: Mary is a CAMKit mentor. She worked with us to present a workshop to students two years ago at the Blue Hill Science Center.
In fall 2009 Ms. Passero and Workshop Leader Karen K. Futral presented a series of seven workshops to 5th and 6th grade girls in the Belmont METCO Program. Wearing silver and gold "tiaras" and big smiles, the girls received their "diplomas" from Belmont METCO Director Diane Wiltshire at the "graduation" ceremony marking the last class. Each girl's class project--a poster about herself--was on exhibit at the Library at the Chenery Middle School throughout Black History Month.
Wiltshire says, "The girls just loved the CAMKit program, all the hands-on activities and games. Even the METCO tutor Lonamae Shand joined in all the activities with them. The girls' parents are thrilled that the girls are learning about career opportunities."
Belmont Against Racism (BAR) funded the workshop series. Jonathan Jacoby, BAR president, agreed. "We chose to support this program because it furthers our goals of promoting communication among students and celebrating diversity in Belmont."
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In February 2010, Kevin Doyle, environmental career consultant to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Council, presented a talk about careers to representatives of youth groups, career counselors, and others at the state's Career Source office in Cambridge. Mr. Doyle pointed out many areas in which the number of green careers is growing.
Mr. Doyle also noted the Department of Labor Statistics will be coding environmental careers in the Occupation Outlook to easily identify them. For example, veterinarians are concerned with environmental quality whether they work with large farm animals or pets. Pesticide use on grass or feed can affect an animal's health and can pass on the toxic substances. Environmental health care careers include researchers who study how pesticides and herbicides could affect human health, healthcare staff who care for patients with cancer-related sickness, scientists who develop new methods of finding pesticides in food..
CAMKit Programs include two environmental careers: Environmental Compliance Manager (see Mary White above) and Operations Manager (Elena Proakis Ellis). Because these careers present so many opportunities, we'll be interviewing more women and adding more careers in these fields.
CAMKit Programs are women's only to ensure that young women gain as much attention and information as possible.
Note: The CAMKit Program is a project of
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