Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.
Issue link: https://wellesleywestonmagazine.epubxp.com/i/256387
"We want kids to know that science is an evolving, interactive field," says Rama K. Ramaswamy, a member of the Expo organizing team along with Katey Goehringer, Julia de Peyster, Marybeth Martello, Sheila Olson, Sue Sours, Kristin Toffer, and Beth Willet. "We want them to know that asking hard questions is good, and the pursuit of those questions is fun." But make no mistake, while the day is intended to provide lots of entertainment (who won't enjoy playing with glacial goo or ripping apart an iPhone?), the Expo organizers' hopes for the day go much deeper. "It is critical that our schools focus on educating our children for careers that will exist in their life- times," says Olson, an archaeologist and former high school teacher. "Increasingly, these careers are going to require strong backgrounds in some combination of science, technology, engineering, and math. This Expo is a 'kickoff ' of sorts in our community - a way for residents to confirm and celebrate a new commit- ment to making STEM education a top priority for our children and all our citizens." The mission of the Expo and the scheduling of the event could not have come at a better time for the Wellesley Public School system, which recently began to address the need to reinvigo- rate the school system's approach to the STEM fields. "We know we 106 W e l l e s l e y W e s t o n M a g a z i n e | s p r i n g 2 0 1 4 W e ' r e h o p i n g t o r e t a i n p e o p l e ' s i n t e r e s t f a r b e y o n d t h e E x p o d a y Robots and Satellites and Hovercrafts 104-110_WWMa14_science-tech fair_v2_WellesleyWeston Magazine 2/2/14 12:05 PM Page 106