FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 24, 2014 / Julia Winer
Assistant Director of Communications
(860) 509-3666
CREC Two Rivers Students Attend
10th Anniversary of Women of Innovation Event
(East Hartford, CT) The tenth Anniversary of Women of Innovation gathered on March 27 at the Aqua Turf in Southington to celebrate some of Connecticut’s most innovative female minds. Connecticut’s outstanding women were honored for their accomplishments in science, engineering, technology research, information technology, business analytics, technology education, and mathematics. Two seventh grade students from the CREC Two Rivers Magnet Middle School received a special invitation to attend the event to share their own inventions with attendees. Nada Mohamed of East Hartford and Ellie Scott of Manchester had their inventions chosen to be presented at the State Invention Convention in May.
The Women of Innovation event began with a keynote address by retired Air Force Major General, Suzanne Vautrinot. Suzanne discussed not only the rewards of innovation but the importance of its diversity. “You are the people who imagine and what you imagine is changing a nation,” said Vautrinot. The keynote was followed by a series of awards given to Connecticut women in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. The first category winner was Youth Innovation and Leadership award recipient Bridget Oei, a high school student at East Catholic High School.
Additional award categories included: Academic Innovation and Leadership; Entrepreneurial Innovation and Leadership; Large Business Innovation and Leadership; Small Business Innovation and Leadership; Community Innovation and Leadership; Collegian Innovation and Leadership; and Research Innovation and Leadership.
Scott and Mohamed were two of only four young women who were invited to the Women of Innovation award dinner to share their inventions. They will compete with their inventions at the 31st Annual Connecticut Invention Convention on May 3rd at UConn. The students were accompanied by their mothers and CREC Two Rivers Teacher, Christie Hazen.
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The confluence of the Connecticut and Hockanum Rivers serves as an ever-changing laboratory for the CREC Two Rivers Magnet School. Students engage in traditional academics paired with a focus on environmental science and environmental engineering. With environmental sciences and technology as its unifying theme, the school prepares its graduates for higher education and careers in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. Two Rivers Magnet School is an Interdistrict magnet school enrolling students in grades 6-12.
The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966.Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region.CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 19 interdistrict magnet schools.More information about CREC or CREC’s award-winning magnet schools is available at www.crec.org
Above, left to right: Nada Mohamed and Ellie Scott at the Women of Innovation, 10th Anniversary Event
Capitol Region Education Council www.crec.org