There are some people locally who would like to push that number higher. They are targeting eighth-graders, the year that research shows girls start to edge away from math and science, through a program called Women and Math. Mentors work with these students at this critical juncture to keep the girls engaged with the two disciplines.
Laura Smith and Chantal Shafroth, who are now-retired N.C. Central math professors, are the winners of this week’s Grit Award. The two were ahead of the curve in bringing WAM to Durham 15 years ago. After a decade and a half, the program still is thriving. Their vision has affected countless young girls, and the mentors who have the pleasure of watching young minds develop.
The richly deserve accolades for being the kind of educators that will go to great lengths to ensure children are learning.
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He was our Romeo, but sadly he never found his Juliet. He was special because he was the only one diademed sifaka lemur in captivity outside Madagascar. And he was special because of his personality.
He apparently was aptly named -- the handsome fellow who lived at the Duke Lemur Center since he was a youngster was by all accounts a charmer.
He exceeded the life expectancy for lemurs living in the wild – that average is 10 to 12 years. Romeo made it to the ripe old age of 19, despite health issues, largely because of the attention of the staff who loved this lemur.
There are only 6,000 of the little sifakas left in the wild.
We wish the breeding program had been more successful and that a Juliet had been found, but we are grateful to the Lemur Center for its mission in preserving and learning about these wonderful creatures, and we’re grateful to Romeo for putting love in the hearts of those who met him and for helping people learn about the sifakas.
