Robinson-Appel award goes to three students

Three students and their service projects were presented with the annual Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Award Friday, April 14, at Banfi's in the Statler Hotel on campus during a ceremony held for the award's semifinalists.

This Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Award, established by Cornell alumni Gerald Robinson '54 and Margot Robinson '55 and Robert Appel '53 and Helen Appel '55, recognizes and honors students who have had significant involvement in community service by providing support for their projects, which address a community's social needs or problems. Three students are selected annually, and each receives $1,500 to further a community service project that he or she has initiated and proposed.

This year's winners, with an explanation of their projects, are:

Sara B. Glickstein '01, Weill-Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences; major: neuroscience. Glickstein created the Cornell Science Challenge, which promotes a classroom environment that nurtures learning through discovery at an underserved New York City public school. This program will use an established framework that brings Weill-Cornell research mentors into the classroom for seven visits occurring over three months. These research mentors will be paired with groups of children (four to five children per group) and mentor their conceptualization, design and completion of a unique research project. At the completion of the projects, a reception will be held at the school, during which findings will be presented and certificates awarded to all participants. The outreach also will include a field trip to see a research lab. This outreach targets all seventh-grade life-science students at P.S. 126 in New York City.

Justin Minkel '00, College of Arts and Sciences; major: Africana studies/College Scholar. The Belle Sherman Multicultural After-School Program, co-created by Minkel and a community member, is dedicated to the success of children who need both academic support outside their homes and exposure to a world outside their neighborhoods. This weekly program is structured upon both a variety of enrichment activities and a link between those activities and the development of skills in literacy, math and science. Two days each week are devoted to one-on-one attention from volunteer tutors to help develop children's academic abilities. On the third day, students are exposed to hands-on presentations by groups and individuals of all backgrounds, including musicians, poets and scientists. The third day also includes field trips to places and events at Cornell and elsewhere in Ithaca, including museums, a behind-the-scenes tour of a dining hall and significant area sites in African-American history, such as the St. James A.M.E. Zion Church, where abolitionist Harriet Tubman once preached.

Carolyn Sealfon '01, Arts and Sciences; major: College Scholar. Sealfon plans to expand the current Society of Physics Students' "Game of Science" to run during the summer in order to reach more children. This program is a collaboration among people in the Ithaca community who want to give the children of Ithaca a unique opportunity to experience the magic and power of science. The collaboration includes Cornell and Ithaca High School physics students, parents, Ithaca's Sciencenter and Ithaca City School District elementary schools. "The Game of Science" differs from other outreach efforts in its attempt to develop a background by spiral learning over time, rather than merely one-time exciting demonstrations, to spark enthusiasm for science. The plan is to go beyond "science is cool" and "whiz-bang-wow" demonstrations and cool projects, and communicate what is really at the heart of science: the slow building of knowledge and application of logic, which culminate in a powerful "eureka" moment of insight.