Spring Programs

The Emily Krzyzewski Center Offers Several New Programs to Further Develop Academic Ability and Character among Economically Disadvantaged Students  

April 6, 2009, Durham, NC – The Emily Krzyzewski Center (EKC), a learning center that serves high potential economically disadvantaged students, announced today that it is offering several new programs over the spring semester, each contributing to the educational and character development of EKC scholars and their families.  

“The Emily K Center is uniquely devoted to its students for his or her entire academic life.  This means offering workshops like the parent finance seminar to help struggling families make it through these tough times and plan for their child’s future,” said Adam Eigenrauch, Director of Education.  “What makes the Emily K Center really work is the mutual commitment of the EKC staff and the students’ families to turning their young people’s dreams into possibilities. That, in itself, sets the Center apart from other after-school opportunities available to lower-income students in the Triangle area.”

New programs include:

Parent Finance Seminar
Given today’s economic climate, the need for a focus on budgeting is paramount for everyone especially EKC families. The free two-session parent workshop will be led by the Latino Cooperative Credit Union and will discuss the principles of saving and budgeting, certainly poignant lessons in today’s world.   These sessions are offered in both Spanish and English to serve the needs of all of the EKC parents.

“Choice not Chance” Sessions
The “Choice not Chance” meetings are led by members of the nationally ranked Duke Women’s Basketball team and attended by middle school students in the Center’s Pioneer Scholars program.  In these hour-long sessions focused on leadership, the Duke student-athletes visit with the students, tell their stories, and seek to inspire them on their Dream-Do-Achieve pathways. The EKC’s Pioneer Scholars are given a chance to learn about real-world leadership from these impressive young women as well as learn about college, career choices and balancing academics and athletics.  Students also had the opportunity to attend a Duke Women’s game at Cameron earlier in the season to see these student-athletes (and now role models) in action.

Females Excelling More in Math (FEMMES) Program
Females Excelling More in Math, Engineering, and Science (FEMMES) is an educational outreach program for fourth through sixth grade girls.  The seven-week program brings in Duke undergraduate female students to offer Emily K Center girls hands-on experiences in science, technology, engineering, and math.  The students build waterwheels to learn about energy, watch chemistry experiments to learn about states of matter, and perform motion experiments allowing them to see Newton’s laws in action.

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