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PGSS Philadelphia Reunion 6-23-18

posted Jun 24, 2018, 4:50 PM by Janet Hurwitz

The 2018 PGSS reunion in Philadelphia was a lovely and laughter filled evening. Hosted at New Delhi Restaurant near UPenn’s campus, some of the older alumni remembered eating there in their undergraduate days. A big group of 2016 students caught up on their first year of college; the alumni of the restart year, 2013, celebrated their class’s graduation in May. Inside jokes and fond recollection of professors were numerous. The 2015 students from Penn arrived together, though they only got to know each other after their days at camp. The two most recent graduates from 2017 expressed their excitement to attend Columbia and Harvard in the fall. Listening to everyone’s adventures since Governor's School was a pleasure and a delight. Some folks had to leave early. Some folks split into groups for more fun and ice cream. Hugs and warm goodbyes were shared at evening’s close, with many exclamations looking forward to Philly reunion 2019. Thanks to Chloe Glynn (TA 2015-2017) for organizing the reunion and writing this review.

PGSS 2017 is College Bound

posted May 29, 2018, 6:26 PM by Janet Hurwitz   [ updated Jul 17, 2018, 3:20 PM ]

Thanks to Ben Andrews (PGSS 2017) for making this map of where PGSS 2017 alums will be attending college this fall. Congratulations to all!

PGSS 2017 Honored in the PA Senate

posted May 27, 2018, 4:44 PM by Janet Hurwitz

On Tuesday, May 22, 17 of our PGSS 2017 govies and one PGSS 2015 govie were honored in the Senate Chambers of the Pennsylvania State Capitol. Senator Scarnati, President Pro Tempore, introduced the students and also arranged a luncheon in his office. Many of the students' senators were able to stop in to meet with them including Senators Argall, Bartolotta (who turns out to be a science nerd also), Browne, Eichelberger, Hutchinson, Scavello, Yaw and White. (We wish all 58 alumni could have attended from across the state.) We thank Senator Scarnati and his assistant Shelly Brown for making all of the arrangements. We were also able to meet briefly with Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera in the rotunda. Photo credits to Morgan Bowers.

New England Reunion in Boston, May 2018

posted May 14, 2018, 7:35 AM by Janet Hurwitz

A group of Boston area alumni gathered at the 730 Tavern in Cambridge on Thursday, May 10th. We had great representation from PGSS class years spanning over 25 years, and everyone enjoyed meeting one another and learning about what people are working on in Boston, as well as reminiscing about the late nights studying at PGSS, of course! Thanks
to Janice Lee (PGSS 1991) for organizing and sending this update.

PGSS Campaign Wins Award for STEM Education

posted May 6, 2018, 7:51 AM by Janet Hurwitz   [ updated May 10, 2018, 9:41 PM by Jeremy Hurwitz ]

PGSS Campaign received the Leadership in STEM Education Award at the 2018 Carnegie Science Awards held at the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh. We were recognized for our efforts in restoring and operating the program after the state ended funding in 2009. Receiving the award on the organization's behalf are Board President, David Reiley (1986) and Program Director, Dr. Barry Luokkala. Speaking in the presentation video is Board Vice President Dr. Ben Campbell.

None of this would be possible without the amazing and generous support of our alumni. We would not have succeeded without your help.

On behalf of the entire Board and the PGSS Classes of 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and beyond, thank you for making this award, and PGSS possible.

| Attachments: Award on slide.jpg

Bay Area Alumni Successfully Escape the Room

posted Dec 13, 2017, 8:57 PM by Jeremy Hurwitz   [ updated Dec 13, 2017, 8:58 PM ]

This past Sunday, 16 area alumni met in San Jose to test their ingenuity against Omescape's puzzles. Working in two teams, each group needed to solve a sequence of puzzles before  the 60 minute timer expired. Facing rooms with success rates of 27% and 28%, both groups succeeded -- with matching times of 52 minutes.



Fun Fact: Deanna Rubin (PGSS '96; TA '97, '98) is the current record holder for "Dark Altar", with a ridiculous time of 33 minutes!

Successful Fundraiser

posted Nov 28, 2017, 4:02 PM by Janet Hurwitz   [ updated Nov 28, 2017, 4:03 PM ]

With special thanks to our wonderful volunteer class agents, we successfully raised over $125,000 (goal of $100,000) during our two-week fundraiser in November. This amount is strictly from alumni; parents and friends donations are counted separately. It is amazing that our alumni recognize the importance of PGSS for future students and give so generously with nothing personal to gain. Over 22% of our alumni have given.

PGSS Joint MIT-Harvard 2013-2016 Reunion 11-10-17

posted Nov 14, 2017, 12:29 PM by Janet Hurwitz

Govies from Harvard and MIT met for a reunion this past Friday, November 10. We caught up with each other over yummy Vietnamese food, traded stories about our PGSS professors (Professor Kosbie was a universal favorite!), about the TAs (apparently, only the 2016 TAs squirted students with water guns when they dozed off in class), and about pulling an all-nighter to paint the fence on the last day of the program. No matter what we’re studying now or how long ago we went to PGSS, we all agreed on one thing — the friends we made there were the best part! We’re all looking forward to many more reunions in the future, which will include other colleges in the Boston area as well.

PGSS NYC Reunion

posted Nov 9, 2017, 7:57 AM by Janet Hurwitz

This week's NYC PGSS reunion featured lots of puzzles (and some pizza), as we worked our way through an MIT Mystery Hunt. Thank you to David Reiley for arranging the puzzling! It was a lot of fun and a good fit for the group. We look forward to more gatherings in the nearer future. If you live in the NYC area, please complete the survey to see the best times and places for future gatherings.

PGSS Philadelphia Reunion

posted Oct 29, 2017, 5:14 PM by Janet Hurwitz

A group of alumni from 1988 to 2017 enjoyed lunch and discussion together at the PGSS Philly reunion. Thanks to Nupur Shridhar (PGSS 2006) for organizing the event and to Beverly Jogan and Keith Mathers (both PGSS 1997) for treating our recent govies.

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