7th Queen’s College Summer Math Institute is on

Last Updated on Monday, 22 July 2024, 20:27 by Writer

The Queen’s College of Guyana Alumni Association (NY), Inc. (QCAANY) is hosting its 7^th Queen’s College Summer Math Institute (QCSMI) from July 22nd, 2024 to July 31^st, 2024, at the Queen’s College Campus in Georgetown, Guyana.

The QCSMI will run Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with daily lunch and snacks, T-shirts and other giveaways provided at no cost to the participating students. The target group of this enrichment program is rising ninth and tenth grade students from Queen’s College and several Guyanese high schools, including The Bishops’ High School, St. Rose’s High School, Richard Ishmael Secondary School and Tutorial High School.

This year, the program is led by mathematician, Dr. Cleveland Waddell, Queen’s College alumnus and Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from North Carolina State University. Dr. Waddell will be supported by Camp Administrators Dr. Karen Cole-Onaifo and Jonathan Subrian, Esq., QCAANY Secretary and Vice-President, respectively, Ms. Dianne Henry, Queen’s College teacher, and other volunteers and friends.

Two field trips are planned as complementary activities and are integral to the QCSMI experience. These field trips are intended to demonstrate the use of mathematical principles in real-world scenarios and, especially, how these principles are used in the two main industries driving the Guyana economy – Energy and Agriculture. Additionally, the students will benefit from discourses with local professionals in STEM-based disciplines about STEM career options.

This year’s program is made possible through fundraising and generous sponsorships of friends of QCAANY.

The QCSMI aims to sustainably implement a developmentally appropriate and culturally resonant middle school learning environment that engages Guyanese students in a cognitively rich mathematics learning experience that affirms and aligns with their cultural and social identities and places them securely on pathways to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) excellence. The program combines significant mathematical content with a setting that encourages a sense of discovery and excitement about mathematics through problem solving and exploration.

The objectives of the QCSMI are to:

• Attract high school students in Guyana to mathematical sciences and to motivate them to excel in the subject areas.
• Introduce high school students and their parents to the notion of mathematics as theory; and
• Sensitize students and their parents to futures linked with mathematics, including, but not limited to, careers as mathematicians, math educators, research scientists, computer scientists, engineers, technologists, economists or business leaders.

In addition to the QCSMI program, QCAANY has consistently supported science-oriented students, programs and activities at Queen’s College.

Since 2000, through its Vernley Ward Bursary, QCAANY has awarded scholarships to 1st and 2nd year students enrolled at the University of Guyana who have distinguished themselves in chemistry while at Queen’s College.

QCAANY helped to create the first computer lab at Queen’s College in the late 1990s and continues to collaborate with other Queen’s College alumni chapters to provide material support to the laboratory, as necessary.

More recently, QCAANY has focused on funding enrichment programs for students. Student conferences providing students with extra-curricular knowledge have been held regularly since 2014.

A recognition of the importance of arts, music and sports in the development of well-rounded students has led QCAANY to increasingly focus on the revitalization of these programs at Queen’s College. Establishing a robotics club and providing robust financial support to chess teams and scouts teams travelling abroad, are also recent QCAANY initiatives. Together with its members, QCAANY has also been actively involved in assisting in the refurbishment of the school sports field, including raising funds for the rebuilding of the pavilion and construction of a covered stand on the sports field.

Broadly stated, QCAANY’s mission is to contribute significantly to the advancement and improvement of education at Queen’s College and in Guyana. For more information about the Queen’s College Summer Math Institute, or to support QCAANY’s mission, please contact us at nychapter@qcguyanaalumnny.org.