Girl Scouts Learn at SUNY Canton through Corning Foundation Grant

CANTON, NY (11/19/2009)(readMedia)-- SUNY Canton's Canino School of Engineering Technology will be challenging 50 young women from the Thousand Island Girl Scout Council to create sustainable pet shelters this weekend.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Nevaldine Technology Center Rooms 125 and 129 the scouts will be working with faculty members from the college on a variety of learning exercises to design and setup the structures.

The pet shelter theme was motivated by the recent strong community support and interest for the rehabilitation of the Potsdam Human Society and Animal Shelter.

"The girls will be challenged with a primary goal of using active and passive solar strategies to develop pet houses that could be used as part of a housing strategy at an animal shelter," said Adrienne C. Rygel, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor in the Civil and Construction Engineering Technology programs. "We will place special emphasis on using recycled building materials in the design, green energy utilization, and energy efficient construction."

After the weekend, teams will be responsible for decorating and maintaining their pet shelter and routinely collecting inside and outside temperatures as experimental data. The end result of these experiments will be passed on to the Humane Society to help them consider incorporating passive solar strategies in their eventual building redesign.

This event, and the solar pet shelter kits are supplied through a grant from Corning Foundation. For the past five years, Corning has annually sponsored challenges and events at the college for the Thousand Island Girl Scout Council to introduce science and technology at an early age.

The event continues a series of learning opportunities offered specifically for Girl Scouts at the College. Previously, the Alternative and Renewable Energy Systems program worked with Girl Scout troops to construct small houses to collect solar energy data, similar to the pet shelters. Additionally, the Criminal Investigation program has held a Girl Scout Investigation seminar, that teaches young women crime scene analysis and evidence collection techniques.

SUNY Canton offers a wide variety of career-driven bachelor's, associate, and certificate programs. Most of SUNY Canton's new four-year programs are designed so students can take them on-campus, online, or both. SUNY Canton OnLine features more than 100 courses online each semester. The College's athletic teams belong to the NAIA's Sunrise Conference, enabling students to compete in their respective sports for four years. Construction is now underway for the College's new Convocation, Athletic, and Recreation Center.

-www.canton.edu-