Stonecrest Educational Fund

Congratulations to Nadiyah Swann and Torey Taylor, College Scholarship Winners from the Stonecrest Educational Fund. The Stonecrest Educational Fund announces the two winners of its 2020 scholarships for graduating High School students. Ms. Nadiya Swann was a contestant in the 2016 essay contest titled "Why is Voting Important?" This timely essay may be seen at, https://mbise.org/nadiyah's-essay:-why-is-voting-important?/(opens in a new tab) Ms.Swann will attend Xavier Uni...versity in Louisiana. Mr. Taylor will attend Georgia State University. Included here is a photo of Torey Taylor who participated in our Astronomy day activity in 2017. Each award is for $500. All participants in Activities sponsored by the Stonecrest Educational Fund win prizes and become eligible for college scholarships upon graduation from High School. Previous winners have received scholarships tp Kennesaw State University and Georgia State University. Participants and contestants have also won summer academic scholarships to UGA, Georgia Tech, Fernbank Science Center, and Fernbank Natural History Museum for their summer camps. See more

Three Special Things About Veterans Day 2019 and Stonecrest AIRMAN FIRST CLASS RAYMOND WISE One of the residents of the Stonecrest Overlay District is U.S. Air Force veteran Mr. Raymond Wise. In the 1950s, he was Airman First Class Raymond Wise in the extremely dangerous outpost known as Ice Station Alpha. (The movie Ice Station Zebra is base on that Cold War expedition.) He was there (at the North Pole) as a part of the International Geophysical Year. The IGY was the most ...significant peacetime scientific activity in 500 years. His amazing story can be found in three parts on the website www.s-e-f.org. Look under Adventure Stories on the website. THE PLANET MERCURY TRIES TO ECLIPSE THE SUN ON VETERANS DAY On Veterans Day 2019, the planet Mercury passing in front of the Sun was visible from the Atlanta region if you had proper instruments such as a solar telescope. This event will not occur again until 2031. It only occurs 13 times in 100 years. We have an image of Mercury trying to eclipse the Sun. This image was taken by Astronomer David Whalen who was among the many astronomers who came to the Clubhouse of the Parks of Stonecrest in 2017 and gave residents a chance to see the Sun safely through solar telescopes. That dot in the left upper quadrant is the planet, Mercury. We are 93 million miles from the Sun. Mercury is about 40% wider than the Moon. But because Mercury is about 58 million miles from earth, it cannot eclipse the Sun as the much closer Moon frequently does. The Moon is less than one-quarter of a million miles from Earth. THE STONECREST EDUCATIONAL FUND PROMOTES SCIENCE EDUCATION The Stonecrest Educational Fund and local amateur astronomer, Julian W. Beckford, MD, gave the residents a chance to see THE GREAT AMERICAN SOLAR ECLIPSE of 2017 at the Parks of Stonecrest Clubhouse in August 2017. The Stonecrest Educational Fund honored the scientific achievement of US Air Force Veteran Raymond Wise in 2017 and has provided summer academic scholarships to local K-12 students that year and every year since then. Veterans Day is a day to remember and honor all our veterans. They risked their lives for our safety and for our scientific knowledge. Some of our veterans are your neighbors. They all have a story to tell. You may see the Raymond Wise story at www.s-e-f.org. The Stonecrest Educational Fund is not associated with any municipality, any civic association nor any Homeowners Association. Visit us at WWW.S-E-F.ORG

At no cost to me, I just voted to support science education at a California elementary school.

STONECREST, WATTS AND THE NOBEL PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY One man links these three things together in American history. ... That man is Clarence Otis, Jr., a native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, graduate of Williams College Massachusetts and Stanford University and former C.E.O. of Darden Restaurants, a Fortune 500 company. The Otis Family left Mississippi in the 1960s to escape the turmoil of segregation in Vicksburg. His family moved to Watts, California shortly before the fiery Watts Rebellion of the 1960s. While in California, Otis attended Jordan High School in Watts. He excelled there and was admitted to Williams College, in Massachusetts (Go Ephs!) on a full scholarship. Another Alumnus of Jordan High School named Glenn Seaborg also excelled there a generation before and was admitted to U.C.L.A. (Go Bruins!) where he studied Chemistry and later went to U.C. Berkeley and on to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Jordan High School in Watts can claim among its alumni, a C.E.O. of a Fortune 500 Company (Clarence Otis) and a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (Glenn Seaborg). This February is Black History Month and the American story of Clarence Otis (whose ancestors fought for the Union in the American Civil War to end slavery) is worthy of highlight at this time. This year is also the International Year of the Periodic Table of Elements. Glen Seaborg is responsible for the discovery of ten of the 118 known elements. Both men were/are strong advocates of education. Clarence Otis is still alive and is a strong supporter of the Stonecrest Educational Fund. The American Chemical Society is a strong supporter of the Stonecrest Educational Fund. The Stonecrest Educational Fund provides summer academic camp scholarships to Georgia Tech, U.G.A. and the Fernbank Science Center for K-12 students of the Stonecrest Overlay District. We know that encouraging our youth is a good thing. We believe in the Williams motto: CLIMB HIGH CLIMB FAR YOUR GOAL THE SKY YOUR AIM THE STAR We were at the Fernbank Science Center in February to hear a Georgia Tech astronomer (James Sowell) talk about the Periodic table. We also saw a special presentation in the planetarium about Blacks in the US Space program. We work with the Fernbank Science Center to encourage our youth. www.s-e-f.org

"My Science Interest" for Scholarships This Year, 2019. The Stonecrest Educational Fund is pleased to announce its 2019 contest for its summer academic camp scholarships at UGA (University of Georgia, Athens;) Georgia Tech,, the Fernbank Natural History Museum, and the Fernbank Science Center. Please visit our website for more information and to enter the contest where everyone wins something. www.s-e-f.org