FOCUS in Sound

Engaging children in science has been a prime objective of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund since it became an independent, private foundation in 1994. The Fund operates on the principle that all children, regardless of their future career path, need basic science literacy to participate fully in civic life. One of the Fund’s long-standing grant-making activities puts that principle into practice. The Student Science Enrichment Program, or SSEP, which has been supporting informal science education programs across the state of North Carolina since 1996, provides more than $3 million annually to support creative science education activities for primary and secondary students in North Carolina. The SSEP is informal science education at its best, with a major emphasis on hands-on, inquiry-based activities. On this edition of FOCUS In Sound, we pay a visit to the SSEP Directors and Advisory Committee’s Annual Meeting, which took place August 11, 2010 at the Fund’s headquarters at Research Triangle Park. The gathering i