Chemistry Students Join Valdosta Library for Family Fun Night

VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University’s Department of Chemistry and Student Members of the American Chemical Society (SMACS) will join the South Georgia Regional Library System for Family Fun Night: Learn More About Energy from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 24. Admission is free of charge.

Hosted by the Valdosta-Lowndes County Library, located at 300 Woodrow Wilson Drive, Family Fun Night: Learn More About Energy will feature a number of exciting and educational presentations, as well as interactive and hands-on activities. Attendees will discover how batteries work, why heat melts ice, how cold is cold, how to make ice cream, and much more.  

Refreshments will be served.

Family Fun Night: Learn More About Energy is sponsored by a grant from the Southwest Georgia Section of the American Chemical Society and supported by VSU’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Initiative. It is part of an ongoing effort to inspire the next generation to want to learn more about these academic areas. Faculty in the Department of Chemistry, like those throughout the College of Arts and Sciences at VSU, understand that the nation’s future economic prosperity is closely linked with student success in the STEM fields. 

According to the United States Department of Education, only 16 percent of American high school seniors are proficient in mathematics and interested in a STEM career. In November 2009 President Barack Obama launched Educate to Innovate, an initiative designed “to move American students from the middle to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade,” according to a White House press release. He also called on the nation to develop, recruit, and retain 100,000 STEM teachers over the next 10 years and asked colleges and universities to graduate an additional one million students with STEM majors.   

Contact Dr. Linda de la Garza, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at VSU, at (229) 333-5340 or ldelagarza@valdosta.edu to learn more.

On the Web:

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en.html

http://www.valdosta.edu/colleges/arts-sciences/chemistry/

http://sgrl.org

http://sowega.sites.acs.org

About the American Chemical Society:

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is the world’s largest scientific society and one of the world’s leading sources of authoritative scientific information. A nonprofit organization, chartered by Congress, ACS is at the forefront of the evolving worldwide chemical enterprise and the premier professional home for chemists, chemical engineers, and related professions around the globe. The Southwest Georgia Section boasts roughly 134 members and regularly sponsors contests and events that promote public welfare and education and add to the material prosperity and happiness of area residents.

Valdosta State University’s 2013-2019 Strategic Plan represents a renewal of energy and commitment to the foundational principles for comprehensive institutions.

Implementation of the plan’s five goals, along with their accompanying objectives and strategies, supports VSU’s institutional mission and the University System of Georgia’s mission for comprehensive universities. 

The story above demonstrates VSU's commitment to meeting the following goals: 

Goal 1: Recruit, retain, and graduate a quality, diverse student population and prepare students for roles as leaders in a global society.

Goal 3: Promote student, employee, alumni, retiree, and community engagement in our mission.

Goal 4: Foster an environment of creativity and scholarship.

Visit http://www.valdosta.edu/administration/planning/strategic-plan.php to learn more.