03.30.2020
Checking In
Dear Friends, Volunteers, Parents, and Supporters, Well, hello there! Long time no see. Today we write to you with a keen sense of the toll this pandemic is taking on your students and communities. Curieus Teams from all chapters miss seeing students' smiling faces each week, and we are all crossing our fingers we can reconvene safely before the end of the school year! We are also aware of the importance of normalcy and predictability in young students' days, and we hope the resources we have provided in this email can help provide some clarity for your students. It is, without question, a time of adjustment for all of us. Our teams are diligently working on ways to keep Curieus students engaged with science even if school is not in session. On a more positive note, we've included some of our favorite photos and memories from these past couple months of Curieus classes. We look forward to making even more memories some time in 2020! Be well, and look to hear from us with more updates soon, Team Curieus
Curieus volunteers Marisa, Alexander, and Monica from the Menlo chapter explain to students the different parts of DNA using candy models. Yum!
Students at the Castilleja chapter session prepare for the beloved and highly anticipated egg drop. Spoiler alert: (Most) of the eggs survived!
The M-A chapter's students explored a variety of physics and chemistry principles these past few weeks (and only made a small mess while doing it!)
Missing Curieus a little extra? Check out our blog posts from past sessions or explore our website!
Your Corona Virus Briefing
As the Bay Area takes severe measures to confront COVID-19, the Curieus team hopes all families have been safe and able to comfortably adapt to this new life. It is not our intention to add onto the slew of pandemics reports and information, only to update our community during this tumultuous time.
All Curieus programs with the Boys and Girls Clubs have been suspended until further notice. All Curieus programs working directly with school have been suspended until further notice. All Curieus workshops have been suspended until further notice. Curieus is complying with all social distancing recommendations from the local government and will always hold our students and volunteers’ health as first priority at all times.
We know many parents are looking for different, educational ways to keep their children occupied as we are confined in our homes, and we hope to send out some additional materials for students to continue STEM at home.
We hope that this hasn’t been too stressful of a period. We encourage families to stay inside and slow the spread of the pandemic.
Further Resources on COVID-19
We recommend this New York Times piece and this National Association of School Psychologists article for their valuable insights on helping young people gain perspective, an understanding of the steps adults are taking to care for them, and a sense of control in these unsettling circumstances.
San Mateo County Health now offers a 24/7 call line. Call 2-1-1 for non-emergency, non-medical information on COVID-19. You can also text "coronavirus" to 211211 for updates.
The Mental Health Association of San Francisco offers a phone and web chat non-emergency "warm line" for Californians seeking emotional support. This service is available 24/7 and is available for emotional distress related to COVID-19. Learn more here.
For more reliable information on COVID-19, National Geographic has made all of their reporting on the virus free, here.