Status 2007-2008 : Active
Contact: unc@sciencedays.org

Chapter Directors:

Mike Mian, Class of 2011, Morehead-Cain Award Winner
The very first ScienceDays chapter was set up at NCSSM, and Mike had spearheaded the effort all year. Working with the school’s Distance Learning department, he established contacts in local schools. He met with the after-school coordinators of Durham Public Schools, E.K. Powe Elementary School, and Club Blvd Humanities Magnet to organize the ScienceDays programs to complement each other. They also worked with a school in Charlotte through Distance Learning.  During the 2006-2007 school year, Science Days mentors visited these schools once a month to provide demonstrations for the students.  Their demos covered topics from gardening and environmental science to chemistry to electrical circuits.  Just over the course of a trimester, Mike recruited about 20 high school mentors from NCSSM who created lessons and mentored over 100 students across the state of North Carolina— more than 80 of them from less privileged schools in Durham.  Mike says, "It is difficult to convey my visions when I first learned of the circumstances surrounding the budding Science Days program. I saw ScienceDays as an avenue through which I am able to use my passion for science to contribute to people in need. I believe that both science and public service can be intertwined, allowing people like me to use their academic interests to help mold the next generation of young investigators."  Mike has been working closely with the national chapter since graduating from NCSSM, and he is now one of the directors of the national chapter.  He has also been named a National Merit Scholar, a Carolina Academic Scholar, and a Carolina Undergraduate Research Fellow.  Regarding his experiences as a Chapter Director this year, Mike says, "ScienceDays provided me with an invaluable learning experience. Establishing the program tested me in many areas. Not only did I have to teach the lessons, but I had to manage the entire organizing, advertising, and other business aspects of running the program. Both the academic and real-world managing aspects were integral factors in founding and running this program, allowing me a well-rounded learning experience.  Not only have I been able to stay involved in an academic interest of mine, but I am able to spread that same excitement to the young people around me, providing them further opportunities in their futures. Through ScienceDays, I have learned the true value of the social entrepreneurship this organization embodies, using my own knowledge and skills to not only help those around me, but to grow as a person and scholar as well."

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