Institute/South Charleston, West Virginia
Bayer CropScience has always maintained a close relationship with area schools in support of science education and formally adopted the Making Science Make Sense (MSMS) program at its Institute site in 2003. Shortly thereafter, Institute joined forces with Bayer MaterialScience's South Charleston facility to expand the MSMS program to the greater Charleston and Kanawha Valley region. Today, a core group of more than 20 employee-volunteers support all MSMS activities in these regions.
Specifically, MSMS components include:
- Partnerships with two nearby schools - Dunbar Intermediate and Nitro Elementary - through the Community Alliance in Support of Education (CASE) program.
- Employee-volunteers serve as science fair judges, both at the school level and the county level, and participate in year-round, hands-on science activities for Outdoor Classrooms, Scouts and other community organizations. In addition, since 1996, employee-volunteers have partnered with the Shawnee Community Education Center and its student summer science program, which has earned two "Lifelong Learning Awards" from the governor of West Virginia.
- Pumpkin Drop at the Capitol - Bayer is an annual sponsor of this Halloween event, during which students from across the state of West Virginia "compete" in a pumpkin drop off of the roof of the state capitol building. This event is the perfect combination of engineering challenge and hilarious fun.