Poster Session

Last week all of the Einstein Fellows at NSF created posters and we all stood around and talked to people about who we were and what experience we had.  We also each had a treat from our home state to share.  I had bought Mini Idaho Spud Bars.  It was kind of fun.  I was surprised how much my hair had grown from the school picture I used on the poster.  It was taken in the fall of 2008.  Only two years ago.

I learned how to create a poster and where to get it printed.  This will be very handy later when I have to make lots of posters for the poster session we will be having in February with the Research Experiences for Teachers meeting.

Return to Sanity and/or Fear Rally

Saturday I walked down to the Return to Sanity Rally.  It was so crazy.  There were thousands of people and we were all so close together that I could barely raise my arm with out putting my elbow in someone's eye.  People were packed from the Capitol all the way to the Washington Monument. I could not see or hear because of all of the people.  After he first two hours, I wiggled and squeezed my way out.  Check out the video Return to [Insanity] . On the way out I took a few pictures of some of the crazy people.

Another Day Off

Latest update.  The news said that the NSF building was struck by lightning.  The building is closed all day Thursday and possibly on Friday!  Wow.  What am I going to do with my time?  I'll think of something :-)

Short day at work

We all got to go home early today!  About 12:30 I was eating my lunch at my desk, when the electricity went out.  Emergency lights came on.  No one knew what was going on.  So we all waited around.  I work on the 11th floor of a 12 floor building.  After about 20 minutes, someone called the guard at the lobby desk.  He did not know what was going on either, but thought we should evacuate.  We took the stairs down to the second floor where there is a skywalk to the Hilton Hotel.  This is the scene that I saw.

Emergency vehicles were everywhere.  Rumors say that there was smoke in the parking garage beneath our building.  After another half hour wait, we were told to go home.  Good thing I grabbed my stuff and took it with me when I left the building.  Whatever work needed done will have to wait until tomorrow.

National Science and Engineering Festival

This weekend Marc, Ashlyn, Morgan, and I went to the first annual National Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C.  It is a part of President Obama's focus on education and "preparing and inspiring" students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).  There was so much to do and see.  We only saw about a fourth of what was there, but had a great time.

Green Bank National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Two weeks ago the Einstein Fellows went on a field trip to West Virginia to visit the Green Bank NRAO telescope.  

While there, we also did a little fossil hunting.

Some night viewing of Saturn and the Moon.

We also took the opportunity to hike to the top of Seneca Rock.

The drive was beautiful.  My camera did not do it justice.

Einstein Fellows.

Riding the Metro

I ride the Metro (subway train) everyday to get to work.  It takes about 45 minutes each way.  Tuesday morning I was later than I like to leave.  As I rode the escalator down to the Metro, the train just arrived, so I hurried to get on before it pulled out.  As usual, I started reading.  After awhile, I heard the conductor say Rosslyn stop.  My stop is about four stops later, so I continued reading.  Suddenly, the train popped up above ground!  The sun was shining.  My train stays underground all the way to my stop.  I am on the wrong train!!  I am on the way to the airport.  I get off at the next stop and catch the next train going the other way.  I have to ride it until it gets to a transfer stop so that I can get on the correct train and then ride to work.  A strong reminder to pay more attention when getting on the train.

Idaho

I had a chance to return to Idaho for a few days.  Spent time with family.  Anna and Mike have just moved from Florida back to Idaho.  There was a birthday party for Tyler, Corbin, and Rylan since their birthdays were the last of September and the first of October and the family was too busy trying to move to celebrate.

I also got to see my mom and Bob for a day.  Thanks to Ginger and Neil for letting me stay at their house.  Jon and Charlotte fed me, Anna, and boys a great dinner.  Mike's mom and family, as always, let me join their family fun.

I was really looking forward to seeing people that I worked with at Frank Church High School.  I talked with as many as I could in the time I had available.  It felt so good to see old friends and colleagues.

A real highlight of my visit was the opportunity that I had to meet with the Math and Science Coordinators at the Idaho State Department of Education.  I talked with them about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in Idaho and the nation.  The President's Council Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has recently released a report, Prepare and Inspire: K-12 Education in STEM For America's Future .  Lot of topics for discussion; Common Core Standards, revamping AP Computer Science, how to prepare and inspire students, 100,000 new STEM teachers for middle and high school, creating a STEM Master Teacher Corps, electronic text books, virtual schools, and much more.

It all ended with a long day of travel home.  Started at 7 a.m. in Nampa and ended at 9:30 p.m. when I walked in my apartment in Washington, D.C. , filled in the middle with the fun of trying to make plane connections.

A Day at the Zoo

Some highlights of trip to National Zoo with Marcus and family.

Grace Hopper Conference

Wednesday I was able to fly to Atlanta, Georgia for the Grace Hopper Conference.  Before last week, I admit that I had never heard of Grace Hopper.  Now I know she was a "mathematician, computer scientist, social scientist, corporate politician, marketing wiz, systems designer, and programmer".

The conference was great and I learned the importance and need for computer science and the grave shortage of computer science in our nation's education system.  The keynote speakers were outstanding.  Duy-Loan T. Le arrived from Viet Nam with little more than the clothes on her back.  She said that not being able to speak English was her biggest handicap.  Four years later, she not only could speak English, but graduated from high school as class Valedictorian at the age of 16. At 22, she was the first woman to be elected to the rank of Senior Fellow at Texas Instruments.

I also learned that computer scientists are not always all about numbers and sitting in front of computer screens.  They also know how to have fun.

Dancing on Thursday night!

Dancing again Friday night!

I managed to see some sights of Atlanta and have some fun.  Found a great place to eat Southern cooking.  I ordered the house specialty of Peach Waffles and Chicken Wings.  Between Einstein Fellows, Erik Russell and Camsie Matis and I, we also shared collard greens, mac and cheese, summer squash casserole, and the best sweet potato cheesecake ever.

Gladys Knight's Restaurant 

Gladys' blue shoes.

We also visited the World of Coke a Cola where we experienced a 4D movie about Coke around the world and tasted 50+ different Coke products.

I stayed in the Marriott Hotel on the 27th floor.  The view was beautiful, inside and outside.

Looking down from the 27th floor to the lobby below.

Outside my window.