CGIF News

Students watch with glee as their homemade concrete pucks fall to their fateful end on the ground below. Some of the pucks survive in one piece; others are not so lucky. But it’s all a part of the lesson today. Steve Smith, 11th grade chemistry teacher at Animas High School in Durango, Colorado, looks on…

It’s the last evening of Jose Tabarez’s three-week study abroad trip to Peru, yet he joins our Zoom call with punctuality and an air of professionalism. As a first generation honors college student and recent CGIF and ACerS scholarship recipient, Tabarez approaches his education with a passion that drives him to seize as many opportunities…

While many children with an itch for hands-on activity reach for LEGOs or Lincoln Logs, a young Lilly Garcia often opted for building IKEA furniture, according to her mom Chris Garcia. Originally from Arizona, Lilly grew up with a competitive spirit and a high-performance mindset—which could be why she grew up building furniture instead of…

Tucked between sloping hills in a rural, southeast sector of Brazil, children in the municipal Maripá de Minas dream of becoming veterinarians and farmers. Many don’t think of pursuing a higher education, likely because they don’t know what opportunities await them in Brazil or beyond.  Isabella Loureiro Muller Costa, a third year Ph.D. candidate in…

Winter Workshop is back in-person for 2023, and they event has been re-imagined to make it even more affordable for students! The Winter Workshop will take place January 20 – 22 January 2023 at Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA. This event is sponsored by The American Ceramic Society and…

Beaming in front of a royal blue curtain on the Zoom call, one can’t help but think of a magician when speaking with CGIF scholarship recipient Devon Woodfine. A quick glance upon his impressive email signature implies that he really is a magician, or perhaps Woodfine has simply mastered the art of being the hardest…

Giving is good. Societally we have high expectations for those who are well off. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Daddy Warbucks. We tend to imagine that giving should be left to people with more than most — important people in grand offices, wearing fancy suits, and driving expensive cars. Dr. Mary Stevenson would be the first…

Students patiently wait their turn to try out the pyrometer in the lab at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (UMN). It’s not every day they get to learn about hot temperatures with a radiation tool that looks like a laser gun. Later on during the field trip, they’ll also get to witness the unfurling…

It’s summer vacation and you’re 15 years old, excited to take a break from school and go to a sports camp with your friends. But mom has different plans and sends you to a science camp at a local college. Moping around on your phone, daydreaming about sports camp—until the sound of breaking glass catches…