Third graders at Lone Mountain Elementary in the Cave Creek Unified School District in Scottsdale, Arizona experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity to interact with Dr. Jane Goodall via a Zoom session led by Arizona State University’s Division of Humanities. This was hosted by the Department of English, in partnership with Macmillan Publishers.
Lone Mountain Elementary, a pre-school – 6th grade school, focuses on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and regularly provides unique encounters with science and scientists for their students. Lia Jensen, a 3rd grader at Lone Mountain asked Dr. Goodall about how she overcame failure or discouragement as a scientist. Describing how she felt about her interaction with arguably the most famous living scientist today, Lia said, “I’m thankful to go to a school where I can learn from the best scientists in the world. It was amazing.”
CCUSD Superintendent, Dr. Cort Monroe said, “We are fortunate to partner with excellent research universities, such as Arizona State, so that we can connect our students with inspiring people and experiences. We are all about students and learning in Cave Creek, and these types of experiences encourage our students to pursue their dreams and live a life dedicated to learning and improvement.” Dr. Goodall opened her time with the students making some chimpanzee hoots and sharing her favorite childhood stuffed animals, which were very popular among the kids. After a 40-minute time of questions and answers centering on her career as a scientist and themes in her most recent book,“The Book of Hope,” Goodall closed by having the students say with her, “Together we can. Together we will”(Change the world).
