By Ellen H. King
November 4, 2002

Orlando Mayor Glenda E. Hood teamed up with DuPont field engineer Beverly Hinds at Orlando's Princeton Elementary to host a recent Cities United for Science Progress (CUSP) "Science in the School Day." As chair of the CUSP partnership, Mayor Hood was especially proud to bring the nationally acclaimed "Science in the School Day" program to the City of Orlando. The event was such a success it caught the attention of local Orlando media including the ABC Affiliate WFTV-TV and Orlando's leading cable all-news station.

"CUSP provides the essential forum for reinforcing a students- exploration of vital subjects like math and science," noted Mayor Hood. "As both chair and benefactor of the partnership, I am particularly appreciative of The U.S. Conference of Mayors and DuPont for conceiving this wonderful educational opportunity for young students."

Mayor Hood and Hinds, from DuPont Chambers Works in New Jersey, challenged students to hypothesize, experiment and conclude the scientific processes involved in both keeping an ice cube frozen and the elements involved in melting an ice cube quickly. As Mayor Hood explained to a captivated room of second graders, the experiments conducted demonstrated that in order to keep ice cubes frozen and to melt them quickly you must control the ice cubes exposure to temperature.

The school children were able to grasp the elementary engineering principles displayed by the experiments through an understandable and fun approach. The students left the event with not only an increased knowledge of elementary engineering, but also a heightened interest in science and math.

As expressed by one delighted student, "Mayor Hood sat next to me during the experiment and showed me that science and math aren-t as hard as I thought!" Being a science magnet school, Princeton Elementary was extremely appreciative of the mayor's involvement and her commitment to promoting the importance of science education. At the conclusion of the experiments, one student revised her answer to an earlier question by Hinds about her hopes for the future. Instead of becoming a professional basketball player, the student mused that she, too, would like to pursue becoming an engineer.