Cleveland State University Awarded 2025 Marsh W. White Outreach Award

Zone and Chapter: Cleveland State University, Zone 7

Project

Project Name: CPL Physics Friday’s: Light/Sound Waves based Outreach-Teaching Experience

Project Leaders: Patrick Barrett

Chapter Advisors: Kiril Streletzky

Project Description: Since 2024 Cleveland State University’ SPS chapter partnered with Hathaway Brown, a local K-12 all-girls private school, for a unique outreach-teaching experience. We will be continuing this partnership for our
upcoming outreach events. CSU’s SPS, which has a multi-year record of physics outreach in local schools
(a.k.a “Physics Fridays”) will work with former CSU’s SPS outreach coordinator, Ms. Janna Mino, currently
the Director of Fellowships in Science Research and Engineering at Hathaway Brown (HB), to train a team of
HB’s 9-12 grade students how to perform outreach themselves and facilitate SPS outreach to the general public
at several branches of the Cleveland Public Library (CPL). First, we propose a day trip to Campus International
School (CIS) inner city public school in downtown Cleveland in January. The HB outreach team will be invited
to join SPS in learning how to do outreach before the trip to CIS. The HB outreach team will then use their new
knowledge to help CSU’s SPS perform light demos to the younger students (K-8) at CIS on the same day. Later
in the spring, HB outreach team together with the CSU’s SPS will deliver fun filled interactive light wave
outreach sessions to general public at 4 prescheduled events at various branches of the CPL. This project will
not only educate and engage Cleveland kids and general public in physics but will also provide the girls at
Hathaway Brown a better understanding of science, hands-on engagement, and, hopefully, a burning desire to
perform their own science outreach. This could help the underlying goal of the project to further spread the
excitement and appreciation of science in northeast Ohio.

Project Proposal: