Astronaut Mae C. Jemison who joined the Peace Corps in 1983 and spent two years as a medical officer in Africa Launches New Bayer Competition for Students Who Want to Change the World
Astronaut Launches New Bayer Competition for Students Who Want to Change the World
10/5/2004 7:01:00 AM
To: State Desk
Contact: William O'Donnell of Bayer HealthCare LLC, 973-408-8022
MORRISTOWN, N.J., Oct. 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- New Jersey seventh through 11th graders who want to turn off their cell phones, turn down their earphones and make a difference in the world, will now have the opportunity to through a new science competition launched today by Bayer Corporation as part of its Making Science Make Sense (MSMS) initiative.
By entering to become a Bayer Making Science Make Sense Scholar, one lucky New Jersey student will win a full scholarship, including travel expenses, to attend Dr. Mae C. Jemison's international science camp, The Earth We Share (TEWS) in July 2005.
Dr. Jemison, scientist, physician and the nation's first African-American female astronaut, founded TEWS in 1994. The four-week residential science camp invites students from around the world to work together and use an experiential science curriculum to solve current global dilemmas, such as "How many people can the earth hold?" "What do we do with all this garbage?" and "Design a non-fossil fuel energy source for the world," among others.
First, however, they will need to take a hard look at their own community and identify a problem affecting it that they believe they could help solve by attending TEWS.
Jemison and Annette Owens, Bayer Consumer Care's regional program director for the Making Science Make Sense national education initiative, were on hand today visiting with Morristown high school students to help kick off the competition. Together, they rolled up their sleeves and worked with the students to identify and begin tackling local community problems.
"This competition and the TEWS experience help students make the important connection between science and technology and their power to solve society's problems -- whether those problems are affecting neighbors down the block or distant cultures halfway around the world," explained Jemison, who serves as national science literacy advocate for Bayer's Making Science Make Sense program.
Designed to strengthen middle and high school students' science literacy, the TEWS curriculum is based on a hearts-on, minds-on, hands-on learning philosophy. As such, it helps students develop science literacy skills, such as critical- thinking, problem-solving and team-working.
"Since 1995, Bayer has been extremely fortunate to work with someone of Dr. Jemison's stature -- an accomplished scientist and national hero -- on the important issues of science education and science literacy. We now are equally delighted to offer this scholarship to her science camp, whose outstanding curriculum helps foster in students the kind of science literacy skills that will serve them well both personally and professionally, regardless of the career path they choose," said Bayer's Owens. "This competition provides a logical and elegant expansion of MSMS into all of New Jersey's middle and high schools, bringing students the opportunity to experience the same kind of experiential science learning that has long been the cornerstone of MSMS."
The Bayer Making Science Make Sense Scholar Search requires applicants to answer four science and technology-related essay questions, including, "Identify a problem in your community that can benefit from you receiving a Bayer Making Science Make Sense Scholarship to attend TEWS and explain why." In addition, they must provide recommendations from community and school leaders. New Jersey seventh through 11th graders are welcome to apply. To request an application, please call the MSMS hotline at 973-254- 4946 or visit Bayer's web site at http://www.BayerUS.com/msms.
Making Science Make Sense is a company wide initiative that advances science literacy through hands-on, inquiry-based science learning, employee volunteerism and public education. Bayer's Morristown site is one of 15 Bayer sites around the country that operate local MSMS programs, representing a national volunteer corps of more than 1,200 employees.
In Morristown, the MSMS program consists of 70-plus employee- volunteers who work with Morris County teachers and students in the classroom on hands-on science experiments, as well as serve as science fair judges and mentors. In addition, Bayer Consumer Care is also a sponsor of the Morris Museum's Portable Planetarium and the Morris County Park Commission's Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center.
The global and U.S. offices of Bayer Consumer Care, a division of Bayer HealthCare, are headquartered in Morristown, N.J. Bayer Consumer Care is among the largest marketers of over-the-counter medications and nutritional supplements in the world. Some of the most trusted and recognized brands in the world today come from the Bayer portfolio of products. These include Bayer Aspirin, Aleve, Phillips' Milk of Magnesia, Midol, Alka-Seltzer, Alka-Seltzer Plus, Bactine, RID and One-A-Day, and Flintstones vitamins. Bayer HealthCare combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Biological Products, Consumer Care, Diagnostics and Pharmaceuticals divisions. A subgroup of Bayer AG, Bayer HealthCare is one of the world's leading innovators in the health care and medical products industry and employs more than 34,600 people worldwide.
Bayer Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is part of the worldwide Bayer Group (NYSE symbol: BAY), an international health care, nutrition and innovative materials group based in Leverkusen, Germany. Bayer employs 23,300 in North America with net North American sales of 8.8 billion euros in 2003. Bayer's three operating business areas -- HealthCare, CropScience and MaterialScience, improve people's lives through a broad range of essential products that help diagnose and treat diseases, protect crops and aadvance automobile safety anddurability.
The Earth We Share, founded in 1994, is a project of The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established by Dr. Mae C. Jemison, the nation's first African-American female astronaut, to honor and implement the teaching principles and life accomplishments of her late mother, who was a teacher in the Chicago Public Schools for over 25 years. The Foundation is located in Houston, Texas. For more information, please visit http://www.jemisonfoundation.org.
For more information or to learn how to apply to become a Bayer Making Science Make Sense Scholar, please call the local MSMS hotline at 973-254-4946 or visit Bayer's web site at http://www.BayerUS.com/msms.
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