Women's Programs

Expanding Your Horizons '95

The Center for Research on Parallel Computation (CRPC) provided participant support for select students and teachers to attend the third annual Houston-area Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) conference, held March 4, 1995 at The Rice School/La Escuela Rice. At EYH conferences around the nation, women from non-traditional professions conduct a series of one-hour workshops that introduce middle school girls to a variety of interesting science- and math-related careers and encourage them to take more math and science courses when they reach high school. During their workshops, presenters also answer questions about their education and background, discuss why they chose their profession, describe what a typical day is like for them, and provide salary ranges. Since 1979, EYH conferences have reached more than 200,000 students in 21 states and Canada.

Students attending EYH '95 chose from over 60 "career exploration" workshops, including

• Surfing the Internet - CRPC Executive Director Linda Torczon and Rice University computer science student Sara Carlstead used Netscape to guide students through a live tour of the Internet.

• Electricity and You - CRPC's Debbie Campbell and Bechtel's Chau Dang showed students how to use common household items to build a palm-sized electric motor.

In addition, teachers, parents, and counselors chose from among 16 adult sessions, with topics ranging from "Promoting Gender Equity in Education" to "Teaching TAAS using NCTM Standards." Opening sessions began at 9:00 a.m., and workshops and adult sessions ran from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with a one-hour lunch break at noon.

For more information on EYH '95, contact Susan Boone (smbboone@tenet.edu), Math and Science Teacher and past EYH Program Chair, West Harris County AAUW.

Updated by dcamp@cs.rice.edu.
http://www.crpc.rice.edu/CRPC/Women/EYH/eyh95.html