Have you ever heard of SK Day? SK is an amazing female mathematician named Sonia Kovalevsky. Kovalevsky was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1850 and was the first woman to earn a doctorate in mathematics. The UofA hosted middle and high school students virtually for SK Day this year to encourage young women to study mathematics.

I attended the Zoom meeting about mathematics on SK Day. Team members from the UofA delivered a shirt and supplies to our homes prior to the event!

 Can you imagine never having a party? What would that be like? Tanvi Barman, Founder and CEO of No Birthday Left Behind (NBLB), found a way to give birthday parties for homeless children in shelters.

 Do you like Animal Crossing? How about Super Mario? Well, you’re in luck. Nintendo decided to do a collaboration with Animal Crossing for Super Mario’s 35th anniversary.

 Marathon runner Don Muchow made history by being the first person to run from Disneyland to Walt Disney World. Muchow, 59, has Type 1 diabetes and decided to run to raise money and bring awareness for Type 1 diabetes.

Muchow began his journey on Feb. 1, 2020. He planned to spend 90 days running, but the COVID-19 pandemic stopped him in his tracks–twice.

 I had a dino-mite experience at Jurassic Quest! It contains one of the largest collections of animatronic dinosaurs in North America. Due to COVID-19, Jurassic Quest offered a drive-thru experience at the Pima County Fairgrounds, which included an incredible audio tour, from the comfort of your own vehicle. Guests could enjoy over 70 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs placed in real-life scenes, with movement and sound. Each dinosaur was identified by name, region where they lived, identifying characteristics and eating habits. There were rows and rows of life-like dinosaurs.

 The Art of Problem Solving is a new STEM curriculum designed to offer a deeper, more challenging math instruction, helping kids excel at this subject. The program is for kids in grades 5–12. The texts introduce key math concepts and teach kids how to develop new ideas with ways to apply these ideas to challenging problems. Thousands of students are using the program, and many have gone on to win contests such as MATHCOUNTS.