Women in Mining
Contacts: Kray Luxbacher, kraylux@vt.edu, faculty advisor to Women in Mining and Greg Adel, adel@vt.edu, department head
Type of program:
The Women in Mining organization routinely provides programs in the local elementary and middle schools. Although these programs are not specifically "curriculum development," aspects of "Virginia minerals" and "energy resources," both of which are part of the SOL's in Virginia, are generally covered. The programs are generally ready to go at any time, depending on the availability of students. In the past, students have been provided (with the help of some of the mining companies) mineral kits to leave at the local schools, as well as printed resources provided by our national professional society, Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). These activities typically last 30 - 60 minutes in length. Because of the time needed to organize around student schedules, two weeks to one month notice is preferred.
The programs take place in a classroom setting, serving 50 - 100 K-12 youths; six to eight K-12 faculty; 50 - 100 K-5 youths (elementary); six to eight grade youths (middle); with one university and six to eight K-12 faculty members. Disciplines and topics include science, technology, and engineering. The program is local and aligned with Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL).
Typically, a few hundred dollars would be useful to help with the costs of supplies and materials used to put together our programs, such as printed matter, mineral kits, etc. This is a specifically undergraduate student activity. As a result, the amount of outreach varies from year-to-year, depending on the level of student interest. Nevertheless, the Women in Mining organization routinely receive requests from the local middle and elementary schools for our programs on mining and Virginia minerals. Support from the College would enable them to make the program a bit more structured.
The mission of the student chapter of Women in Mining includes outreach at the K-12 level. Typically in early fall semester, members distribute flyers to local schools in Christiansburg and Blacksburg, advertising their Government, Education, and Mining (GEM) program. Teachers contact the GEM coordinator to set up a date for the Women in Mining students to visit and present a program related to mining to their classes. The group is routinely invited to most of the local elementary schools and many of the middle and high school science or earth science classes.
Programs for grade school students usually involve demonstrations of mining gear and equipment (hard hats, steel toed boots, safety and rescue equipment, etc.) and visual demonstrations of mining and ore deposits using layered cupcakes that they make (cupcakes the students later eat). For the upper-level elementary students and middle school students, the VT women provide programs on Virginia minerals and energy resources that fit within the Virginia Standards of Learning.
