Quinnipiac University Anthropology Society Hosts Bethany School Club

An announcement from Quinnipiac University:

Members of Quinnipiac University’s Society for Anthropological Research hosted 25 students from Bethany Community School’s Girls Excelling in Math and Science (GEMS) Club on Feb. 20.

Julia Giblin and Jaime Ullinger, assistant professors of anthropology, helped organize the event.

“There is pretty good data that shows a lot of young girls are interested in math and sciences but that by the time they get to middle school, high school and then into college, they tend to drop out of those courses,” Ullinger said. “We are trying to show them that there are female faculty members involved in science and how much fun it is.”

The college students taught an archeological lesson in which the Bethany girls received field manuals and rotated through stations to learn about excavation, bones and material culture, human evolution and stratigraphy.

“My grandpa was an archeologist,” Eleanor, a fourth-grader, said as she sifted through an archeological dig box. “I’m second generation.”

Michelle Schwenger, enrichment teacher at Bethany Community School, advises the GEMS Club. She said the girls, in grades 4-6, were excited to visit Quinnipiac’s Mount Carmel Campus.

“”We try to expose the girls to as many science-, technology-, engineering- and math-related fields as possible,” Schwenger said. “The Quinnipiac students are role models. The GEMS Club members enjoy being with them and strive to be like them.”

“I absolutely love working with children,” said Kyle Joyce, a junior criminal justice major from Mansfield, MA. “I like the one-on-one connection. You talk about the subject matter, but you can also really get to know them and have an impact on their lives.”

Madeline Hardy, a senior history major from Westport and president of Quinnipiac’s Future Teachers Organization, agreed.

“Working with the kids is such a great way to see how their minds work, especially with an event like this where it is something that is very specific and something they might not be exposed to prior,” she said. “We’re giving them a head start in a field they might not necessarily consider.”

Photo from Quinnipiac University