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CTICE Receives Hayden Foundation Grant

The Charles Hayden Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1937 to promote programs serving youth most at risk of not reaching their full potential, has awarded a grant of nearly $300,000 to SEAS’s Center for Technology, Innovation and Community Engagement (CTICE). SEAS Associate Dean Jack McGourty, CTICE Executive Director, says this funding will help continue the School’s efforts in reaching students in grades K-12. With the support of the Hayden Foundation grant, Dean McGourty has hired two new staff members, Evelyn Roman-Lazen as director of K-12 programs, and Denise Mahfood as assistant director of K-12 programs. Both educators come to the Engineering School from the American Museum of Natural History, where they ran an after-school science enrichment program that also was supported by the Hayden Foundation.

“We’re truly fortunate that we could bring Evelyn and Denise on board,” says Dean McGourty. “Their experience teaching science in the K-12 classroom and knowledge of the local public school environment is invaluable as we expand our outreach in the New York City public schools.” The new resources have already had tangible results. Each week, both women lead in-class and after-school enrichment programs at local public schools, continuing the program that they had begun at the American Museum of Natural History.

Ms. Roman-Lazen has begun an on-campus Hayden Engineering and Applied Science Program for local public school students. Every other Saturday, nearly 100 middle school students from local public schools come to the Mudd Building for science enrichment classes. In addition to support from CTICE and the Dean’s Office, several professors—such as Professors Paul Duby and Marco Castaldi of the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering—have helped in the launch of the Saturday program.

“I’m so very happy to be here at SEAS,” says Ms. Roman-Lazen. “We’ve been able to improve our K-12 offering by emphasizing engineering and applied science in our after-school enrichment programs. We’ve begun establishing a real presence and image for CTICE and the Engineering School in the community. With the additional support from these grants, we’ll be able to do even more great work. Who knows how many of the middle school students we’re working with will end up studying at SEAS?” she says.