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On April 24 at the New Haven Lawn Club, the Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science (PIMMS) at Wesleyan University was recognized for its successful, effective, and influential program in professional development for mathematics and science teachers in Connecticut.

PIMMS received the Dr. Sigmund Abeles Science Advocate Award at the annual awards banquet of the Connecticut Science Teachers and Connecticut Science Supervisors Associations for Excellence in Science Education and Supervision. The award is designed to recognize individuals or organizations that have demonstrated staunch advocacy for science education in Connecticut as evidenced by their substantial and sustained support and contributions. The award was established to honor Dr. Sigmund Abeles, State Science Consultant emeritus for his outstanding leadership and service to science education in Connecticut.

The Chair of PIMMS, Dr. Robert A. Rosenbaum, who started the organization in 1979, and new Director, Sara MacSorley, accepted the award together at the ceremony.

“It’s such an honor to come into a well regarded organization and to be able to work with Dr. Rosenbaum. I’m looking forward to continuing to support the professional development of Connecticut’s science and math teachers,” says MacSorley.

Dr. Rosenbaum’s humble words in response to this tribute reminds us all of why we feel so passionate about him. As an extraordinary educator and gifted thinker, his accomplishments have affected countless teachers in their careers. The evening came to a close with a beautiful song sung by Marjorie Rosenbaum.

PIMMS would like to express its immense thanks to the Connecticut Science Teachers and the Connecticut Science Supervisors Associations for this recognition, to all the math and science teachers who participated in PIMMS training, and to the many classroom students who benefitted from their instruction.

This will be the last Potluck of the semester. This is a wonderful way to share great food, and enjoy the company of other community members. At this gathering, there will also be a discussion and teaching on Middletown History–very exciting!

This Potluck will be held at 200 Church Street (Wesleyan’s Social Justice dorm).

Call today to sign up for our Scarf Felting Class with Irene Dizes. Irene’s work is on display at Green Street until May 2, 2013.

The class is on Sunday, May 19th from 9:30am – 4:30am. No experience needed.

Irene is a 20-year veteran fiber artist who will teach workshop participants the Nuno felting method in this day-long scarf making workshop. Each participant will design and construct a one-of-a-kind scarf in which wool and silk fibers are artfully intermingled, such as the one Irene is modeling in the picture here.

There is a $100 registration fee which includes materials. Call us today to sign up as space is limited – 860-685-7871.

The Greening Green Street project truly turned into a community effort.

During Part 2, we made pebble mosaics. Our After School Students and community members who have been important players in our history came together to make mosaics for the planters.

People from the community also made generous donations of plants from their own gardens and gave their time to help with the project.

One telling moment was when Pat Charles, the superintendent of Middletown Public Schools, joined us to make a piece. How often do you see school administrators and their first graders participating, hands on, in the same project? That was pretty incredible to see.

We turned off the lights and turned on the screen. A mysterious looking creature with dark freckled skin and a unicorn-like horn appeared on a blue ocean background.

Nature writer Todd McLeish started by saying, “The first question I get with this slide is – what is it? The second question is – is it real?”

It’s a narwhal whale, and yes, it is real.

The next hour was filled with tales of adventure to the Arctic Circle and fascinating trivia about the narwhal.

Narwhals have two teeth, one of which grows through their upper lip (mostly in the males) to look like the characteristic horn. In rare instances, both teeth will grow out as horns. There is still a debate among researches about the purpose of the elongated tooth.

The narwhal horn does in fact have a connection to the unicorn. The unicorn myth says a cup made of unicorn horn can heal all your illnesses and keep you healthy for life. When narwhals were first discovered, the entrepreneurs of the time took advantage of the myth and sold the narwhal horns at high prices labeled as unicorn horns.

Intrigued? For more on how narwhals have connections to celebration meals, climate change, and even dentistry – check out the book Arctic Whales in a Melting World. 

As spring approached, we started a community art and science project at Green Street. We wanted to freshen up the planters at the entrance of our building to represent our new partnership of the Green Street Arts Center and Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science.

Our challenge was to represent the coming together of art, math, and science in a community outdoor space.

After partnering up with landscape designer and teaching artist Deb Aldo and a group from Sonia Manjon’s Art and Social Justice Class – the Greening Green Street seed was planted and started to grow.

The general idea was to bring together community members, college students, and neighborhood youth to reimagine the planters. This involved new plants and a new decorative component of pebble mosaics within the existing planters. We wanted to use the whole experience as a teaching opportunity for our After School Program.

During Part 1 of the project, we taught our After School Program students about the art, math, and science behind landscaping. We learned about the science of plant biology, the importance of sunlight for plants, and the water cycle. We learned about math concepts like sequence, pattern, and spatial limitations by studying mosaics.

The students enjoyed the arts integrative approach to the lessons. We used drawing, song, dance, mosaic, and more.

We had a full house for our Pysanka egg decorating workshop with Wesleyan Dance Department Chair, Katja Kolcio. She and her husband have been using the technique for many years and offered to share her skill with us. Katja went through the process step by step and then our visitors got cracking making their own beautiful eggs – just in time for Easter.

The design is created using wax and you have to think about your color pattern in reverse. The wax creates a barrier where the dye won’t stick. So wherever you put wax first on the egg will remain white. Then you pick your first color, say yellow. After you dye the egg yellow, you add the next level of wax and all those spots will stay yellow.  At the end, you carefully melt off all the wax and blow out the contents of the egg.

The traditional technique produces beautiful geometric patterns and we had some great artists at our workshop.

The workshop was such as hit, we’ve decided to do it every year around Easter. Keep an eye out for the next one and sign up early.

Green Street is all about community. We are working to build community in our immediate neighborhood and also to strengthen our connection to Wesleyan University.

At the beginning of the year, Ari came to us with an idea to do just that – and in a delicious way.

Ari is a Wesleyan student. “Middletown is on my address, but I don’t feel like I’m part of the community,” he said the first time he came to Green Street.

He and a group of students wanted to organize a community potluck where it was more about bringing yourself than a dish. The idea was to bring people together to break bread and sharing stories. Each potluck would have a theme and involve community and student speakers.

Appropriately, the first theme was “My Middletown Experience.” We shared stories and a meal with over 50 people that first night, ages 5 to 75.

This is what Ari had to say about the first event. “Middletown residents (including some Wesleyan students) came together for a community potluck. The food was great, but the conversation was the major draw. Nur Moebius offered her touching story of struggle and overcoming it, and Jalen Alexander led a discussion on what community and compassion meant to everyone around the circle. Many new friendships were formed, and the inaugural event of what is to become a longstanding tradition was a big success!”

Jalen asked the group three questions.

• What is community?
• What is compassion?
• What is service?

The whole room participated in the conversation. Kids from our After School Program and retired faculty from Middlesex Community College answered the same questions – spanning sometimes seven decades of experience. The answers were powerful. Here are a few gems from the night.

“We are all in this community together.”

“Share yourself with people.”

“Its about getting outside your box.”

“People just have to smile more.”

So come smile with us, make a plate, and share your story. Community potlucks will be hosted once a month on a Sunday evening.