Aspiring Scientists from the NYC School System
in Harlem Children Society Visit City Hall…
Advancing the future of Science & Green Initiatives

New York, NY – On Thursday, August 28, 2008, at 4 PM, Harlem Children Society (HCS), a prestigious hands-on research program will showcase its stars – the students enrolled in the premier Science, Engineering, Mathematics & Bio/Medical Internship Program at the Mayoral offices in City Hall. Over 200 of the enrolled students from more than 75 schools in the New York area will attend the event. This represents the acknowledgement of a personal invitation from New York City Deputy Mayor of Education and Community, Dennis Walcott, at the HCS International Induction Ceremony on July 1st at Weill Cornell Medical College. HCS will also take the opportunity to accord its “Harlem Dream Award” to Deputy Mayor Walcott in recognition of his concerted efforts to enhance science education in the NYC public schools.

The event will afford HCS students the exciting opportunity to have a personal audience with Deputy Mayor Walcott, and, schedule permitting, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Member, John Liu. Besides fostering civic awareness in HCS youth, it will provide them a unique insight into the workings of New York City government where science policy is forged. Further, this event demonstrates the commitment of the Mayor, his administration, and the Department of Education to advancing science in the NY Public Schools, especially to the under-resourced and under-served population HCS proudly serves. It also coincides with the establishment of Mayor Bloomberg’s advancement of green initiatives and science at large through the work of the program’s talented youth. HCS, a global organization, takes pride in serving deserving high school and undergraduate students from under-resourced and under-served communities, 95% of whom are minority, and 58% of whom are young women. Starting with just three students under the tutelage of Dr. Sat Bhattacharya at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the program has since grown to over 650 – over 275 in New York, and increasingly applying its model that Dr. Bhattacharya developed to beyond its shores to – 50 across the country, and over 350 across the globe, mentored by over 1000 scientists, engineers and doctors in over 100 institutions – from Cornell, Columbia, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to NASA.

Harlem Children Society was founded by Dr. Sat Bhattacharya, Molecular Geneticist and Cancer Research Scientist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, as a local grass-root, yet global non-profit organization in 2000 in order to give under-resourced and under-served, yet highly motivated high school and university students the chance to develop, hone and harness their skills to ultimately better serve their individual communities. Serving students ridden by abject poverty in the NY region, across the country and increasingly applying its unique model globally, HCS’s innovative program engages students in one-on-one hands-on science research in a myriad of fields in science, technology, math & engineering with accomplished mentors in leading universities, hospitals, research centers, and internationally renowned institutions.

To further enhance students’ intensive training program, HCS conducts weekly workshops & a lecture series. Students are exposed to a variety of experts (educators from UNESCO & UNICEF, Nobel laureates, leading scientists, engineers and doctors from a variety of fields and disciplines) invited to speak about their respective professions, illuminating and providing insight into important current issues. Students are also required to present their individual projects during the weekly series, employing sophisticated power point presentations to demonstrate their progress in their laboratories. HCS also organizes satellite meetings with other HCS remotely, webcasting live throughout the US and beyond. HCS’s intensive summer program culminates in students submitting research papers on their respective work, and subsequently presenting their work in various forums, including conferences, meetings, symposia, and our "Annual Global Harlem Science Street Fair & Festival” poster competitions.  Perhaps the jewel in the crown of HCS’ progressive programs, this unique global event connects countries in real time via web casting, as students share their research directly in a public forum, local village or community. The goal is to share the spirit of scientific enquiry, art, culture and the celebration of the human spirit across the time, continental and digital divide.

HCS’s redressing of educational and career access in the sciences thus far in America show that 100% of HCS students attend college, 80% majoring in science and math, and over 20% of whom have been inducted into Ivy League schools. Students have received numerous awards and scholarships from the Posse Foundation, the Gates Millennium Scholarship, the New York Times Scholarship Fund and other prestigious institutions. Further, HCS’s innovative program increases recruitment; retention, advancement and nurturing of budding scientists and engineers from otherwise neglected populations. In a time when people are losing interest in science, engineering, and technology careers, HCS hopes to revitalize these fields with some of our most gifted youth from such communities.

"We look for the best, brightest, and unpolished diamond
in the worst neighborhoods. Maybe that's where the
next Einstein or Madame Curie is — the Bronx."  Dr. Sat Bhattacharya