October 2019
Your monthly news & updates
Our Mission
To ignite the natural curiosity of all learners to explore and shape their world
MOUNTAIN UPDATES
Environmental Science and Sustainability Center groundbreaking
On Sept. 5, Greenville County Schools hosted its groundbreaking ceremony for the new Environmental Science and Sustainability Center. The first educational building to be constructed since 1989, the center will have several flexible classrooms, large, interactive exhibit spaces and a cafeteria that will also house a new employability credential program. It will support new learning standards and increase Roper Mountain’s current reach by 25%. 
Volunteer Team Virtual Training
To afford more flexibility in joining our
Volunteer Team, we have a new Virtual Training offered as part of the Online Volunteer Application. High school students and adults may apply at any time of the year to join our team. 
UPCOMING EVENTS
The Science of Harry Potter
Second Saturday
Saturday, October 12
9:00am-3:00pm

Friday Starry Nights
  • 6:00pm Feature Show: Perseus & Andromeda
  • 7:30pm Feature Show: STARS

DEPARTMENT UPDATES
HARRISON HALL OF NATURAL SCIENCE UPDATES:
  • New animal additions include: Southern Toad, Eastern King Snake, Corn Snake, Green Tree Frogs and a Tiger Salamander.
  • Two young seahorses recently moved into exhibit so keep a look out for them on your next visit!
LIVING HISTORY FARM UPDATES:
  • Roper Mountain received the “Friends of Social Studies” award from the SCCSS. This award is given annually to organizations that demonstrate support for providing high-quality social studies education for the students of South Carolina (and beyond).
  • The South Carolina Council for the Social Studies 2019 conference took place in Greenville the week of Sept. 30. As part of the conference, some attendees chose to visit Roper Mountain and our Living History Farm for breakout sessions and tours of the farm. 
SYMMES HALL OF SCIENCE UPDATES:
  • Symmes Hall of Science welcomed Erin EuDaly as its newest STEM Specialist on July 1. Erin comes to us with 12 years of experience teaching high school biology, honors physics, environmental studies and physical science. She is excited about helping with upgrading our auditorium shows, teaching labs and has new ideas for camps (including cheese making!).
HOOPER PLANETARIUM AND DANIEL OBSERVATORY UPDATES:
  • After a thorough search, Maggie Connelly, currently the Girls in STEM Coordinator at Discovery Place in Charlotte, will be joining Roper Mountain this month as our Planetarium and Public Program Specialist. 
VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS UPDATES:
  • Virtual Field Trips are continuing to book for this school year. New standards-based lessons are currently in development for teachers.
  • Now teachers in Greenville County will be able to receive a Technology Professional Development Credit for completing a course on Virtual Field Trips and attending a Virtual Field Trip with their classroom.
  • Funding has been received from Lockheed Martin to once again fund Science on Wheels scholarships for schools with a high poverty index. This year we have expanded the offering to four adjacent counties (Spartanburg, Pickens, Anderson and Laurens) in addition to Greenville County. 
SCIENCE PLUS INSTITUTE UPDATES:
  • The Institute’s mini-PLUS program kicked off in September here on the mountain and will host its second site at the State Museum in October. The Afterschool and Virtual program began Oct. 10 with a 3rd grade life science course.
  • We had our most successful year yet! All but two SC school districts applied to the Institute with nearly 2,000 applications for the year. Over 500 teachers, most of which were new to the Institute, joined us for 35 different courses and enjoyed experiencing Roper Mountain while here.
  • Applications for the summer 2020 Institute will go live in November with the addition of a new 2-day Institute!
DID YOU KNOW?
…that mid-late October is a good time to watch for migrating monarch butterflies in our butterfly garden on their journey south? This month, migrating monarchs are fueling up on the nectar plants in our butterfly garden or can be seen congregating in roosting sites if you are lucky. Our butterfly garden is open to the public during the week.
Happy butterfly watching!
SUPPORT THE MOUNTAIN:
Spread The Word About Roper Mountain
Do you love visiting Roper Mountain? Would you consider sharing your personal experiences with others? Please visit our Facebook page, TripAdvisor page, Google listing and / or Yelp page to leave a review and help us spread the word about all that we have to offer.
Give Back To Roper Mountain:
Have you considered making Roper Mountain one of the charities you support this year? Without donations from individuals like you, we wouldn’t be able to invest back in the hands-on, story-based lessons children come to know and love when here for school field trips; we wouldn’t be able to be the “place of yes” for visitors who attend our public programs; and we wouldn’t be able to invest in our current and future workforce in the community. Please consider making a gift to Roper Mountain today. 
AmazonSmile
What if you could contribute to science education without spending a dime? Go to Smile.Amazon.com and choose Roper Mountain Science Center Association as your charity. Bookmark the site – which looks exactly like the regular Amazon site – so that when you make your normal purchases, we will be credited. Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchases back to Roper Mountain.
THANK YOU CURRENT SUPPORTERS!
Visionary:
Duke Energy Foundation
Fluor
Lockheed Martin
Michelin North America

Explorer:
GE

Voyager:
BMW Manufacturing
Prisma Health – Upstate
ScanSource

Adventurer:
Chick Fil-A of Pelham Road
State Farm Insurance
Wells Fargo Foundation

Innovator:
AFL Global
Loggerhead Apparel
Tapestri Digital Advertising 
ZF North America, Inc.