Rose-Hulman PRISM program expands

TERRE HAUTE — Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology’s Portal Resource for Indiana Science and Mathematics Project has expanded its E-MERGE mentoring program this school year to include young women interested in engineering or technology from Terre Haute North, West Vigo and Northview high schools.

Supported through the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Education, E-MERGE uses tele-mentoring to nurture freshman students, guiding them toward success in the workplace or postsecondary education, said PRISM Director Patricia Carlson.

“We are focusing on helping the students learn life skills and deal with tough situations they may encounter in high school,” said Carlson.

The students and Rose-Hulman mentors are using the book “GirlWise: How to be Confident, Capable, Cool, and in Control,” by Julia DeVillers, during the mentoring sessions. Some of the topics covered are self confidence, self esteem, time management, money management and dealing with everyday issues.

Also, the groups are career and college awareness, covering the misconceptions female students may have about engineering, scholarship opportunities available for women, choosing the right college, preparing for SAT and college, and completing college applications and essays.

The E-MERGE program includes 34 freshmen from Terre Haute North, 14 freshmen from Northview and 12 sophomores from West Vigo (holdovers from last year’s pilot program).

Rose-Hulman students serving as mentors are Kendra Albers, Cheyenne Arrowsling, Emily Dosmar, Kavitha Duvoor, Samantha Gregory, Susanna Kelly, Jessica McKinley, Danica Neier, Jessica Rogers, Rachel Schaftlein, Paige Stewart, Megen Velten and Cristen Weist.

The PRISM program has been awarded a continuation grant to sustain its role as the West-Central Center for the Indiana Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Resources Network (I-STEM) through 2011. This consortium brings together 11 regional hubs whose goal is to provide both leadership and resources for high academic standards in STEM areas throughout the state.

PRISM has also accomplished some significant milestones during October. The service, celebrating six years of service to K-12 STEM education in Indiana, recently surpassed 80 million cumulative hits on its Web site. Additionally, the portal has 5,913 registered members and 26,576 registered student accounts.

PRISM has hosted a Moodle server for approximately four years. As of October, there have been 940 active courses and over 30,000 user accounts. The Web site features Moodle tutorials and opportunities to register for distance education through Moodle.

For more information about the PRISM program, check out www.rose-prism.org.

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