Dear readers, I must apologize. I have not been blogging anywhere near as much as I should. This post will serve two purposes. First, it will thank you, the blog readers, followers, volunteers and most definitely the supporters of Science is Elemental. Second, it will explain what I have been doing for SIE while not blogging.

Thank you

For all who read this blog, for all SIE’s followers on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn and for the readers of the Science is Elemental newsletter, thank you. It’s nice to know someone is paying attention to what we are doing. I really appreciate it.

For our volunteers. You cannot know how amazing it is to me that I can say this. Last year at this time, Science is Elemental had no volunteers. You are what will make SIE successful. Thank you so much.

For our supporters. I started this nonprofit not knowing how I would make a difference in science education, but knowing that I needed to try. Thank you for believing in me, and in the mission of Science is Elemental. Your support means so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

SIE work and efforts since September 2023

So what have I been doing for SIE while not blogging? After going back through my planning documents and calendars, I found that my work over the last three months falls into three broad categories, with specific work in each:

1. Strategic and operational work for the organization
2. Partnering with other nonprofits
3. Programming under the strategic pillars

Strategic and operational work

In order, from strategic to operational, I worked on the following since September:

1. Developing a ten-year plan
2. Conducting a Giving Tuesday Campaign
3. Getting approved for the Montgomery County Volunteer Center
4. Launching the new web address and getting Google for Nonprofits

In 2022, I had ideas, the start of plans for what I thought Science is Elemental could do, and the help of a lawyer from Maryland Nonprofits to apply for 501C3 status. And then in February, two months sooner that I expected, SIE received 501C3 status from the IRS. On that day, the SIE strategic landscape changed. Now I needed to go get all those things that status enabled. This list embodies those strategic efforts. SIE needs a solid plan. Through the efforts of our advisory board which met in November, we are drafting that plan. It needs funds, and more to the point, it needs a community of donors who want to see us succeed because they believe in what we are doing. We ran a successful Giving Tuesday campaign in November. It needs volunteers, and working through the my local county, and our partner, Chemists Without Borders, we are making that happen, with 24 volunteers to date. And finally, it needs to upgrade and properly use its website without spending excess funds. Switching from the .blog to the .org enabled access to Google for Nonprofits, saving a considerable amount of money.

Partnering with other nonprofits

Partnerships are key to nonprofit success and meeting our mission. I am grateful for SIE’s partnerships with Art. Play. Learn., The Springwell School and Chemists Without Borders.

In the spirit of nonprofits supporting each other, a research group out of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has created a community tool, SWAP, that facilitates the sharing of staff and resources between nonprofits. In November, SIE applied for was accepted into the SWAP cohort from Maryland. Starting in the new year we will be able to offer our unique resources and receive other nonprofits’ resources through their system.

Programming under the strategic pillars

Since September, SIE work has supported all four of its strategic pillars:

1. Increasing access to science education
2. Bringing science education to where kids are
3. Supporting teachers
4. Supporting science education decision-making at the local level

Increasing access to science education and supporting decision-making

Through our partnership with Chemists Without Borders, we are working on the education clearinghouses website. We held the kickoff meeting in September, and we are sifting through educational opportunities websites, finding listings for places and times for boards of education meetings, and building the website. Each educational opportunity website is evaluated to make sure the opportunity provides scientifically based and legitimate educational content, and adheres to appropriate child safety consideration. Once the website is live, these clearinghouses should increase access to science education and support decision-making. In the new year, I plan to add badges for the volunteers as they meet milestones for contributing to the website.

Bringing science education to where kids are

I have been continuing to work with Art. Play. Learn. In November, I taught two new classes there:

1. Friction and Tension
2. The Chemistry of Light and Color

In these classes, the two organizations marry scientific principles with hands on activities and expressive art projects. We will be updating the Chemists of Light and Color class in January. After that additional test run, we will provide that class to a group of Baltimore City Public Schools middle schoolers in February. I also worked with an elementary school in New Jersey to help them implement aspects of the Music and Vibrations lessons I taught at a camp at the Springwell School this summer.

What else have I been doing for SIE while not blogging? Finding an illustrator for the children’s book I wrote last Spring. Although there are many science books for kids of all ages, very few—just the biographies of scientists—discuss what scientists do. In addition, almost none of those books discuss the science done in the last 30 years, or go deeply into sciences other than Einstein’s (more than 100 year old) discoveries  and biology of relatively large organisms (plants and animals). Upon listing the cbildren’s book illustration opportunity with the Montgomery County Volunteer Center, I received seventeen inquiries. I’ve asked each student to illustrate the same two pages of the book. Each student who turns in the two illustrations will get 2 Student Service Learning (SSL) hours. The student who does the final illustrations will get an additional 10. The final illustrator will be listed as such on the book.

Supporting teachers

I spent some time this fall researching how to provide the technology necessary to run the Network of Scientists program. The NoS program will allow teachers who have questions about the science associated with their curriculum to ask them easily, via their cell phones or laptops, without having to sign in to a website or have yet another username and password to memorize. I determined that Slack, and some associated apps that allow email and texting into and out of Slack channels, will be the best option. After our Giving Tuesday campaign, SIE has sufficient funds to pay for a few months of these apps (Slack is free for nonprofits, the apps are discounted). Our first step will be to test the applications and make sure they will work for our purposes.

It’s been a busy end of the year. Thanks for your patience in waiting so many months for a new blog post. Obviously, I should have plenty of material to blog about in 2024!

Happy New Year!