UNM’s Science Education Partnership team could not be more pleased with Science Girl’s assembly. Our students were sitting on the edge of their seats to see what would happen next. Each time she asked for a volunteer, nearly the whole audience hands shot up, which is a response nearly impossible to get from a middle school aged crowd! The students laughed wildly at the jokes in the script and really related to Melissa as a young person. They connected with the idea that her play required the assistance of her brother (a fellow actor) and her mother (her manager) when Melissa introduced and thanked them at the end of the show. It was great to see the students’ connect with the idea that scientists are real people who are curious about the world and not just the untouchable geniuses without context that they might read about in books or see on TV programs.

 

Our aim was to provide a beginning of the year assembly which would get students excited about science as a subject and encourage them to do well in their science classes for the upcoming year. Science Girl provided not only that, but a real role model for many of the students. Thank you, Melissa, for sharing your creativity, talent, and passion for science with New Mexico students!