TGMS has been involved with several community outreach programs. We had the privilege recently to be involved with another one at the Murphy-Wilmot Library.
On Saturday, June 2, 2018, five TGMS members spent a couple of hours at the library for their "Libraries Rock!" day and boy did we have a good time!
We set up five stations that parents and children could visit and have a hands-on experience.
The first station was "How Minerals Affect Your Life." They were shown calcite, talc, quartz, copper (to name a few) and how they are used in products in our daily lives. Plus, they got to see what the actual minerals looked like and hold them in their hands.
Then we had the micro mineral station. Everyone had the opportunity to view four micromounts (dioptase, vanadanite, gold and kammererite) through the scope ... lots of kids enjoyed that! They loved the colors and couldn't get over how small the minerals were with the naked eye but how big they were through the scope.
Next we had the UV fluorescent display ... our display had the blacklight always on so you can see the fluorescent minerals. Tim McClain added a standard LED light that showed them how the minerals would look normally when it was turned on. That got a really big WOW!
The last two areas were crystal models and "collect your own rocks." We had seven crystals models that could be cut out and put together and then they could collect their own rocks through five boxes filled with goodies. The fun part was the box with the "sharks teeth." Everyone really enjoyed them and the number one question was, "Are these real?"
We had a great day. The library really appreciated what we did (said they want us back again). Within a two-hour period we had over 60 people (parents and kids) visit our displays. Makes you feel good when parents and kids thanked us for being there .... makes all our effort worthwhile.
So to , Victoria Fila, Marilyn Reynolds, Diane Braswell, Tim & Pat McClain ... "Thank You!"
