News

For immediate release

Boston, Massachusetts, November 5, 2007

The First Annual DOME Foundation Symposium was held on Friday, November 2, 2007 at the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School, Dorchester, MA.

About 70 people including K-12 Principals, Assistant Principals, Guidance Counselors and Teachers of mathematics, science, engineering and technology at schools; science, enigneering and technology professionals and representatives from local companies and corporations in the Boston metropolitan & Massachusetts area were engaged in the Symposium.

The purpose of this Symposium was to increase networking among administrators, educators at local public schools and representatives from local corporations who are interested in supporting math, science and engineering programs. Speakers represented the higher education system in Massachusetts, as well as local corporations and opportunities were provided for discussions among the participants.

The mission of DOME is to increase participation in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines by underrepresented populations to meet the needs of a globally competitive workforce. DOME is interested in 1) increasing the visibility of local needs in the areas of science, math and engineering and 2) learning more about how a nonprofit can best reach out to students to educate and motivate them in the areas of math, science and engineering. What programs are currently taking place in science, technology, engineering and math? What programs are working? What programs are not working? What new programs are needed? What types/sources of funding are needed?

The Symposium objective was to obtain feedback for recommended action items. We hope that this symposium will result in a more focused effort to fund and support existing programs, as well as new programs, in math and science that can be effective and sustainable.

The keynotes were given by Dr. Dana Mohler-Faria, President of Bridgewater State College, Special Advisor for Education to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick; Dr. Jamie L. Wilson, The Biotechnology Programs at MassBay Community College; African American DNA Roots Project, UMass Lowell.

Welcomes were delivered by C. Sura O’Mard-Gentle, Principal, Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary School, The DOME Foundation Advisory Board and by Dr. Norean R. Sharpe, Chair, Division of Mathematics and Science at Babson College, The DOME Foundation Co-Founder.

The Symposium program included break-out groups moderated discussion (moderators: Dr. Norean R. Sharpe, Babson College; C. Sura O’Mard-Gentle, Principal, Ralph Waldo Emerson School; Dr. Marie Dahleh, Harvard University; Sharon Caulfiled, Bunker Hill Community College; Lisa Aucoin, Raytheon; Steven King, Multicultural Engineering Educational Systems; Liz Pape, Virtual High School, Inc). For mini-reports on the break-out group disucssions, please, see below.

The Symposium also included moderated panel discussion (the moderator: Dr.Liz Pape, CEO, Virtual High School Global Consortium (VHS); the panelists: JD Chesloff, Director of Public Policy, Massachusetts Business Roundtable; Dr. Tien Lang, Raytheon; Jim Stanton, Metro West Regional Employment Board, The Technology & LIFT Initiatives; Jason Brisbois and Andy Fadous, BOSE Corporation "The Harmony with Education" program; Emily Anesta, MIT Lincoln Lab).

The Diversity and Outreach in Moath and Engineering (DOME) Foundation is a pending (status) nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that was founded and incorporated in Massachusetts in 2007. The DOME Foundation mission is: To broaden awareness of and to increase participation in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines by underrepresented populations to meet the needs of a globally competitive workforce.

For more information, contact Larisa Schelkin at larisa@DOMEfoundation.org and Dr. Norean Sharpe at sharpen@babson.edu.

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