A Walk for Education – AWFE has been the primary event of the TORCH program since its international rollout in 2005. Since then, NSBE has walked door to door in underserved black communities around the world to tell people about the opportunities that education, especially in STEM, can provide them. Undoubtedly, many people, both community members and NSBE members have benefited greatly from AWFE and this favorite program will continue, but in a different format. Chapters who are interested can host AWFE in their area, partner with nearby NSBE chapters and other concerned organizations to impact their community at home. While handing out information about college, financial aid, NSBE and engineering will continue, we hope to see AWFE bags to include other information and even toys that demonstrate what engineering is and how technology plays a role in daily life. Even changing AWFE to a symbolic walk, instead of going door to door, but rather take the value of education to the streets is a potential change to this well-loved event. A Walk for Education is meant to encourage and inspire our community to obtain a higher education.
AWFE is also designed to create and build a relationship between the community and the local NSBE chapters by establishing a Technical OutReach Community Help (T.O.R.C.H) center at each location of the walk. That way, we will continue to reach out to our community instead of trying to make an impact in the community in a single day. We will also have college fairs, experiments, and/or scholarship contests for NSBE PCI students.
So do your part as a NSBE member and “positively impact the community” by participating in A Walk for Education 2009. Please go on to NOL TODAY and register for your regional walk. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Matthew Mcfarland, mcfarlandme@gmail.com, or Lauren Thomas, torch@.nsbe.org. I promise you do not want to miss out on this!
