Sylvia Hayes

"The Worms Went in and the Worms Came Out" program encourages second-grade students at Celentano Museum Academy to involve themselves in the lives of worms and understand the impact worms have on the environment. It was created to build understanding and knowledge for children in the city who don't have backyards and to help them begin to think like scientists. Through research and the in-school worm bin, Hayes will help the youth become backyard ecologists. They will perform experiments to support their hypotheses about the worm as the simplest form of life. Although the 46 second-graders will be the initial beneficiaries of the program, all 483 students at Celentano Museum Academy will be impacted through collaborative research on sharing the planet. Ultimately, the goal is for the students' learning to improve as they develop an awareness of social responsibility and an ownership of knowledge because they will develop the project. Hayes lives in New Haven.