{"id":66680,"date":"2008-06-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-06-19T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-smile-program-founder-named-one-of-rhode-islands-women-of-the-year\/"},"modified":"2008-06-19T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2008-06-19T00:00:00","slug":"uri-smile-program-founder-named-one-of-rhode-islands-women-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2008\/06\/uri-smile-program-founder-named-one-of-rhode-islands-women-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 SMILE program founder named one of Rhode Island\u2019s Women of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON \u2013June 19, 2008 \u2013Kingston resident and Curtis Corner Middle School teacher Carol Englander sure has plenty to smile about.<\/p>\n


\nEnglander has been named one of Rhode Island\u2019s 2008 \u201cWomen of the Year\u201d by the Rhode Island Commission on Women as a result of her work with the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Science and Math Investigative Learning Experience (SMILE), which Englander started in Rhode Island 14 years ago. <\/p>\n


\nThe after-school program is a partnership between 溏心vlog免费B站 and several Rhode Island school districts, which aims to increase the number of disadvantaged students who attain higher education in the fields of math, science, and engineering.<\/p>\n


\nEnglander learned about SMILE while on a sabbatical leave at Oregon State University, where the program was conceived. \u201cI instantly knew, if they can do this program in a state as big as Oregon, we can do it in Rhode Island.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nIn 1994 Englander launched the first after-school SMILE program in Rhode Island, with the support and funding of a local company, American Power Conversion. <\/p>\n


\nToday, SMILE has expanded to 15 different clubs in six school districts, South Kingstown, West Warwick, Central Falls, Woonsocket, Providence and East Providence, with additional support from companies such as Amgen, Stanley Bostitch, Toray Plastics, grants from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, and funding from the Rhode Island Foundation and the Nellie May Education Foundation. <\/p>\n


\nEnglander hopes to expand SMILE to other Rhode Island school districts. \u201cThe problem is funding, not student or teacher interest,\u201d Englander said. <\/p>\n


\nThe club begins in elementary school and feeds into middle and high school programs, creating what Englander calls a \u201cpipeline effect.\u201d <\/p>\n


\nAt the entry level SMILE, looks for girls who are underrepresented in math and sciences, as well as economically disadvantaged students and those who don\u2019t fit in with any other clubs\u2014a unique criteria that fits well with SMILE\u2019s mission statement.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWe encourage children to \u2018be who you want to be.\u2019 We teach them to be science literate and show them a variety of careers that can use science, but ultimately the kids are good at so many different things, we want them to pursue a degree which matches their interests,\u201d Englander said. <\/p>\n


\nThis has meant that SMILE graduates have taken diverse paths, including Brown Medical School, 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s pharmacy program, The American Museum of Natural History, Carnival Cruise ships, and graduate schools around the country.<\/p>\n


\nEnglander explained that SMILE appeals to many kids, specifically girls, because the program encourages the children to think of themselves as intellectual learners. \u201cGirls get it a little faster, that it\u2019s cool to be smart,\u201d Englander said. <\/p>\n


\nShe continued, \u201cThe children begin to realize that knowledge is power. They learn things ahead of the other students in their class so they often know an answer in the classroom and they can say, \u2018I learned that at SMILE.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe program is a self-esteem booster and a fun way for students to learn math and science without the pressure of tests, Englander explained. Still participating students have to follow a college track and maintain a C or better average.<\/p>\n


\nSMILE also has real results. The program boasts a 100 percent high school graduation rate of its seniors and 94 percent graduation rate from college. <\/p>\n


\nOf the 20 SMILE students graduating from high school this year, 65 percent will be attending 溏心vlog免费B站 in the fall. SMILE students are often attracted to 溏心vlog免费B站 because they get a chance to see the campus and meet students during the SMILE Engineering Challenge Weekend held annually at 溏心vlog免费B站, Englander said. 溏心vlog免费B站 students serve as student mentors who assist SMILE participants in the hands-on challenges. <\/p>\n


\nThose interested in supporting SMILE are welcome to make contributions The SMILE Program c\/o 溏心vlog免费B站 Foundation, 79 Upper College Road, Kingston, RI 02881 (phone) 401-874-7900. <\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站 Department of Communications and Marketing photo by Michael Salerno Photography\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON \u2013June 19, 2008 \u2013Kingston resident and Curtis Corner Middle School teacher Carol Englander sure has plenty to smile about. Englander has been named one of Rhode Island\u2019s 2008 \u201cWomen of the Year\u201d by the Rhode Island Commission on Women as a result of her work with the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Science and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}