Photo By AnnMarie Harvie | Letter of appreciation to Paul Young for his visit to the All Saints STEAM Academy in...... read more read more
Paul Young, geologist for the New England District, visited the All Saints STEAM Academy in Middletown, Rhode Island, April 26, to give a mineral and fossil presentation to 40 elementary school students.
Young spent two hours with the curious and attentive 3rd-5 th grade students discussing the various rocks, minerals and fossils he brought with him for the event. “Typically my presentation is an hour with about 45 minutes for the lecture and 15 minutes for questions,” he said. “This time it went two hours which included a mineral raffle followed by students selecting free samples from seven boxes of minerals and fossils I brought.”
Young attributed his extended stay to the enthusiasm of the students and their wanting to learn more about Geology. “There were a lot of good questions and enthusiastic participation by students,’ he said. “They were really good students, very attentive and were obviously very interested.”
Over a dozen students received the special fossils and minerals from Young’s personal collection in the raffle. All the students were invited to take as many of the more common minerals and rocks they wanted from the supply Young brought with him. The students were excited to be able to receive the special treat.
“There wasn’t much left after a short feeding frenzy and the remainders of the specimens were donated, along with some mineral books I brought, to the teachers,” he said.
The invitation to visit All Saints came after a chance meeting with one of the students at Harvard University’s “I Heart Science” event. “I had met one of the All Saints 4th grade students there in February 2018,” he said. “I am a member of the Boston Mineral Club and I was doing mineral identification and giving away free samples.”
Young learned that the student brought his entire mineral collection with him to the event and was trying to organize a mineral club at his school. “I immediately realized this kid was serious, so we talked for a few minutes, looked at his collection and added some minerals to his collection.”
Young gave the student’s parents his contact information and the next thing he knew, he was invited to the school to do a presentation.
All of the students present for Young’s All Saints presentation had an interest in minerals and fossils. To thank Young for coming and for sharing his collection, the students wrote letters to him expressing how much they really enjoyed the presentations with a couple hoping for a return visit.
“I hope you come again,” wrote a student named Francesca. “I appreciate you coming to teach us about the wonders of rocks and fossils. I believe you inspired many lives to have a love for rocks.”
Quinn, who was a raffle winner, wrote to Young to thank him for his prize and his presentation. “Thank you for coming to our school and showing us your amazing rocks,” said Quinn. “You helped me learn a lot about geology. Thank you for the really cool gold!”
The teachers also enjoyed the presentation. “We just wanted to thank you for coming to share your knowledge with our elementary students,” said Tracey Clarke, 4th grade teacher at All Saints. “Your enthusiasm was evident and the children greatly enjoyed your demonstration and your samples. They are still talking about it and were particularly excited to be able to take home some minerals. Thanks for taking the time and making the effort to come to our school. We all enjoyed the wonderful presentation.”
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 07.31.2019 14:34 |
| Story ID: | 333899 |
| Location: | MIDDLETOWN, RI, US |
| Web Views: | 57 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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