March 31, 2006

Students showcase science skills

The Main Corridor was filled with the discoveries of young scientists March 9 as students from the James P. Timilty Middle School presented the science fair projects they had developed with the help of their MGH mentors from the MGH/Timilty Partnership. The seventh- and eighth-grade students displayed posters describing their projects and fielded questions from hospital employees, patients and visitors. Seven of the students with projects at the showcase later were awarded top honors at the 60th annual Boston Public Schools Citywide Science Fair held March 11 at Northeastern University, taking home two first-place prizes, a second-place team prize and three honorable mentions. Above, Slavin with eighth-grader Kelsey Vasquez

At a special reception following the showcase, three MGH mentors were honored for their service to the program: Karlotta Fitch, of MGH Neurology, a mentor for 15 years; as well as Allan Dolinski of Environmental Services and Nancy Balch of the Pharmacy Department, both mentors for five years.

The MGH/Timilty Partnership is a program of MGH Community Benefits and Partners HealthCare and is funded by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Precollege Science Education Program. The program matches students with volunteer MGH mentors who meet bi-weekly at the hospital throughout the fall.

For more information about the program or to volunteer as a mentor, contact Susan Berglund at sberglund@partners.org.