SPARK ENCOUNTERS

2023-2024 ACADEMIC SCHOOL YEAR PROGRAM CALENDAR

Sparklers were invited to hear from a variety of Career Heroes, including NASA Astronaut Mary Cleave, who flew twice on Space Shuttle Atlantis as a Mission Specialist where she operated the robot arm on the space shuttle and deployed the Magellan spacecraft, which went on to study Venus.  Mary was also joined by Dominique Butler, NASA Solar System Ambassador and Danny Marchant from the University of Southern California (USC) Department of Astronautical Engineering - USC Rocket Propulsion Lab.  Sparklers also heard from innovative leaders within the video game industry including Patrick Murphy, Senior Designer for Fortnite Battle Royale and Graham McNeil, the Principal Narrative Writer for Riot Games who developed story lines for League of Legends.  Rick Rothschild, a legendary Disney Imagineer who led the creation of over 25 Disney attractions, including Soarin' Over California, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage and was the Creative Executive behind Disney's California Adventure Theme Park also spoke to our Sparklers.  Rick shared a Spark Encounter with Martin Howe, CEO of Teq4, a United Kingdom theme park engineering company that created the imagery for Disney's Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run and Rise of the Resistance rides for Disney's Star Wars Galaxy's Edge.  We also heard from Dr. Beverly Petrie, a Colorectal Surgeon at Harbor UCLA Medical Center.  In addition to being an amazing surgeon, Dr. Petrie is a keynote speaker and continues to devote her career to research, education and mentorship.  Dr. Christine Dauphine, a Surgical Oncologist at Harbor UCLA Medical Center also spoke to our Sparklers about her humble beginning and determination to help save lives within her community.

We wrapped up the school year with student speakers from University of Southern California and Yale University.  These amazing speakers gave Sparklers a virtual tour of their campus and shared insights into college life.

"Children are one third of our population and all of our future."

- Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981

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