By Christina Di Marco
Princeton, N.J. (October 29, 2011): The Junior League of Greater Princeton (JLGP) took 30 students from the YWCA of Princeton and Stepping Stones Learning Institute, Trenton, to the Kate Gorrie Butterfly House at Stony Brook Millstone Watershed in Pennington, N.J.
The trips were part of JLGP’s ROCKETS (Raising Our Children’s Knowledge By Educating Through Science) program, which brings hands-on science activities to at-risk children designed to help them develop problem solving, critical thinking and exploration skills that are essential to academic success.The Butterfly House showcases native butterflies and the native plants that support them.
For more information on JLGP and its ROCKETS program, go to www.JLGP.org.
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About JLGP: Since its founding in 1921, the Junior League of Greater Princeton has been an organization of women bringing people and needs together. It welcomes women over the age of 21 who demonstrate a commitment to voluntarism regardless of race, religion or national origin. Its mission is to promote voluntarism, develop the potential of women, and improve communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. The Junior League of Greater Princeton is part of the Association of Junior Leagues International, which includes 292 Junior Leagues in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Great Britain.
About ROCKETS: This JLGP program is a theme-based early literacy program focused on improving the math and science skills of preschool children. The program brings hands-on science activities to at-risk children to help foster problem solving, critical thinking and exploration skills that are critical to future academic success. The program includes a monthly classroom activity, take home funwork activities that reinforce the theme and encourage parental involvement, and field trips for parents and students related to the monthly theme. In the 2006-2007 year, we expanded ROCKETS to include a Teacher Launch Seminar component because empowering teachers who work with the students on a daily basis is the best way to make a lasting impact on pre-K science education.
About the The Kate Gorrie Butterfly House: Opened in 2000 to honor the memory of Kate Gorrie, daughter of Meg and Tom Gorrie of Pennington, it honors Kate’s life and her love for the beauty of nature by helping build a butterfly house. The open-air structure is open from dawn to dusk every day from late April through early October.
