‘Finding Our Way’ STEM Program Hosts Open House on June 5

DANBURY, CONN. – “Finding Our Way,” an environmental STEM skills education program for local middle school students, is run by Dr. Theodora Pinou, professor of Biological and Environmental Sciences and faculty curator of the H. G. Dowling Herpetological Collection at Western Connecticut State University. With a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Pinou brings students from Danbury and regional middle schools to WCSU for a wide-ranging educational experience focusing on water resources and ecosystem biodiversity.

Families interested in learning more about the program can attend an open house at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 5, in Room 125 of the Science Building on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White Street, Danbury. The 2017 Family Stewardship Awards also will be announced, and new families are encouraged to engage with the previous cohort and ask questions.

WCSU, Danbury Family Learning Center and Danbury Public Schools collaborate on the program, which offers 30 seventh-grade middle school students and their families a yearlong integrated environmental stewardship experience focused on New England watersheds. In partnership with WCSU’s Weather Center and The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, students study the life cycle and behavior of organisms that rely on the watershed for resources. They also learn about sustainable clean energy such as biofuel and hydroelectric power via the NOAA Fisheries Lab in Milford, and FirstLight Power Resources.

Pinou said, “The program teaches participants that it is their responsibility to care for the environment if they want clean water, and they want to assure a healthy environment.”