TGIF 111

Only one formal school visit to the MTN Sciencentre on Friday, 21 September 2007.

But once again, a group that travelled long and hard to get here.

A group of 111 isiXhosa, Sotho and English speaking students from the rural town of Sterkspruit in the Drakensberg mountains of the Eastern Cape (just 37 kilometres away from the nearest border post with Lesotho) arrived here.

They came from Nomzamo junior secondary school under the guidance of science, technology and maths teacher Tshepo Slater. The school only paid for the transportation, the learners (from grades 6 to 9) paid their own money for everything else.

''It was very educational to our learners and it gave them a chance to manipulate the science exhibits and they enjoyed the laboratory ... they enjoyed everything that was in the MTN Sciencentre,'' said Tshepo Slater.

''It was our first time to be there at the science centre, we have never been to the science centre and I hope to go back in 2009 ... it takes two years to organise the trips. It was very interesting to me, hence I hope I will be coming back.''

Jozi FM

Ruby Frans of the MTN Sciencentre, seen here with her son Chad-Lee (is that the right spelling, Ruby? was a guest with DJ Mandla on Jozi FM on Tuesday night.

Jozi FM is a Johannesburg-based radio station. The interview went out at 10h30 pm.

The topic was indigenous knowledge.

Jozi FM is one of South Africa's best-known community radio stations.

Based in Soweto, the station grew out of the struggles against apartheid and was first granted a licence a decade or so ago.

My School Project

The SAILI story is in The Times newspaper, a national daily, today. page 19.

It's got the headline ''grooming precious resources,'' has Christina Scott's byline and contains three pictures of students, taken (we think) by Ryan Bruton.

And it looks great.

Your only problem ... it's not online (yet, anyway) and The Times newspaper is subscriber-only. Can't buy it at the news-stand.

Geekathon

And a big thank you goes to the fabulous young ladies from Herzlia, Jessica Puterman, 14, and Candice Schneider, 15, who appeared in The Atlantic Sun newspaper on Thursday August 23 with some of their work from the recent Eskom Expo for Young Scientists.

Jessica and Candice did their project on the new and very important vaccine for cervical cancer. It's amazing to see how research into vaccines has suddenly taken off again. There hasn't been this level of interest since the 1950s, when Jonas Salk became an international hero for developing a vaccine against the dreaded disease of polio.

Although we're not 100% convinced of the headline ''Kids flock to geekathon'' in The Atlantic Sun, we're delighted that reporter Megan Baadjies wrote about how popular the Expo was.

Famous again

Well done to all the boys from the Paul Roos Gymnasium, who came all the way from Stellenbosch to compete in the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists recently.

The Expo was held for the first time at the MTN Sciencentre.

And students Harish Vallabhapurapu and Timo Goosen (seen here), Jancke Eygelaar and Pieter Jansen van Rensburg, all from Paul Roos, appeared in photographs in the 'nuus' section of the weekly newspaper The Bolander on Wednesday August 22.

Mention was also made of Zimasa Combined School in Langa, which competed for the first time, and the hard work done by the judging panel, led by Peter Davidson, an information technology teacher from Fish Hoek.

We were particularly fond of the headline 'Young Scientsts go for gold, silver and bronze at MTN Expo.' Baie dankie, Bolander!

Checkmate

Ever seen the 2005 made-for-television American movie KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTH BRONX starring Ted Danson?

Danson starred as English teacher David MacEnulty (right) in this true story of heroism and inspiration, depicting one man’s struggle to better the lives of underprivileged children from part of New York City. By teaching these children chess, he transforms their lives and the lives of thousands of other kids, their families, and their neighborhoods.

Now meet the man himself: David MacEnulty! MTN Sciencentre is proud to invite South African teachers to a free two-day workshop at our premises in Canal Walk Shopping Mall in Cape Town.

Dates & Time: Friday 24 August, 3pm – 7pm Sunday 26 August, 9am – 5pm

David MacEnulty has been teaching chess in New York City for the past sixteen years. He took on the task of teaching chess to at-risk children at a large elementary school. MacEnulty learned that chess provided an extraordinary educational tool to build student self-esteem and the skills critical to success in academic life and beyond. MacEnulty is also the author of three children’s chess books for Random House. His various life experiences have allowed him to serve as a motivational speaker with a tremendous amount of stage presence. He is a gifted speaker with a wonderful and inspiring story to tell.

Please confirm attendance before Thursday 23 August 2007 and let us know whether you will attend one or both days.

RSVP: lente@netpoint.co.za (021) 705-7863 or 084 710 2434

And enjoy this still from the movie!