Staff

For more information, you can use our general email address or for specific inquiries, you can email individual staff members by clicking on their names:

Jessica is the K-12 Outreach Project Coordinator for the Mind and Hand Alliance. Contact her for information about the Gloucester Public Schools Project, or for support/questions about our hands-on curriculum packages.

Amanda is our K-12 Alumni Volunteer Coordinator for the Mind and Hand Alliance. Contact her for information about the Alumni Volunteer Project, or Mind and Hand Alliance events.

Amy Fitzgerald is the K-12 Outreach Program Coordinator for the Edgerton Center. Contact her for information about volunteering with the Edgerton Outreach Program, or for support/questions about our hands-on curriculum. For scheduling a school visit, please go to the main Edgerton Center Outreach Program page.

Ed Moriarty is the instructor for 6.070/SP.705, Intro to Electronics, works with student clubs and teams, and is involved in the high school levels of our K-12 Outreach program. Contact him for information about high school programs such as the John D. O’Bryant school and the “Saturday Thing”.

Kathy Vandiver, is the outreach director for the Center for Environmental Health Sciences at MIT. Kathy is also the Edgerton Center’s major K-12 curriculum developer and has sixteen years of experience as public school science teacher. Contact her for matters regarding curriculum development.

Kim Vandiver is the faculty director of the Mind and Hand Alliance, which is a joint project of the Edgerton Center and the MIT Alumni Association. Kim is also the Director of the Edgerton Center, faculty in the Mechancial Engineering department, the Dean for Undergraduate Research, and Director of the Office for Experiential Learning.

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Partners:

MIT Club of Boston

MIT Alumni Association

Gloucester Public Schools

Gloucester Education Foundation

John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science

MIT Center for Environmental Health Sciences

Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center

Other K-12 Contributors:

MIT Museum

MIT Haystack Observatory

MIT Sea Grant College Program

Lemelson-MIT Program

Lexington Elementary Schools

Science Club for Girls

Engineering is Elementary: Engineering and Technology Lessons for Children, Museum of Science, Boston

MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program

Broad Institute

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Statement of Purpose

It has been well documented that the United States is not attracting a sufficient number of K-12 students into higher education and careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Our best scientists and engineers have career opportunities in private industry that are far more lucrative than teaching K-12, and students in K-12 are not well informed about the challenges, excitement, and opportunities that exist in these fields. MIT and other research universities are now well positioned to help inspire interest in STEM careers through their graduates and resources.

The MIT Edgerton Center was founded to provide hands-on educational experiences for MIT undergraduates. Carrying on the legacy of MIT professor Harold E. Edgerton, our center creates opportunities for MIT students to engage in challenging activities and projects in engineering and science. In 1998, the Edgerton Center started to create opportunities for hands-on science and engineering education outside of MIT by partnering with Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School to form a FIRST Robotics Competition Team. Now our center provides hands-on curriculum, resources, and volunteers to many schools around Boston and the surrounding area, including the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science in Roxbury, MA and the Gloucester Public School System. Local school groups can also visit the Edgerton Center for a day of hands-on curriculum through the Educational Outreach Program.

The Mind and Hand Alliance is a subset of the Edgerton Center’s K-12 programs, specifically designed to provide STEM curriculum packages with accompanying materials and support to K-12 teachers and other educators, to help K-12 educators and organizers find, support, and train dedicated, highly-qualified MIT alumni volunteers to inspire student interest in STEM, and to form positive, productive partnerships with other K-12 educational organizations.

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