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Operation *Thoth
Operation Thoth Student Invitation, Application, Release & FOIP Form
Operation Thoth Program Brochure (Itinerary)
*Thoth is the Egyptian God of wisdom and the moon. As such, he was believed to be the inventor of astronomy, engineering, botany, geometry and land surveying. |
Check out the 2012 Operation Thoth Archive for pictures and more!
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2012-04-22 Message from Praxis Regional Executive Director, Lorne Cooper: Huge thank you to the young men who participated in our very successful Operation Thoth, to Sunrise Rotary Club for their financial support, to our tour hosts & their facilities, our volunteers, the teachers & staff of the participating schools who assisted us in promoting this event, the businesses and organizations who supported us through providing mementos and promotional items for our participants and especially volunteer Gary McFarlane, founding member of the Praxis Society Board. Visit our archive page to view acknowledgements and pictures of past Operation Thoth conferences. |
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What is Operation Thoth?
Operation Thoth is a one day conference organized by Praxis to expose up to 30 potential young male scientists, engineers and technicians currently in grade nine from our service area (South East Alberta) to career opportunities in fields that have a component in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; the STEM subjects. Created in 2010-2011 as the counter-point to the successful Operation Minerva, Operation Thoth is a day-long conference involving tours of businesses and facilities in Medicine Hat and/or area. The purpose of Operation Thoth is to develop an understanding in grade nine young men of the importance of selecting the STEM courses in high school in order to qualify for appropriate faculties in post-secondary institutions. The conference may include job shadowing with male role models, innovative workshops/displays, on-site tours, formal/informal group discussions and opportunities for establishing networks.
Goals of Operation Thoth:
- To encourage grade nine young men to consider Science, Technology, Engineering and Math related careers (the STEM areas), and to demonstrate the importance of enrolling in these courses in high school to achieve these ends.
- To provide an experiential base to assist the young men in their decision making when planning their high school and post secondary educational programs.
- To showcase the opportunities in the STEM fields in the Medicine Hat area.
- To dispel, in the minds of students “scientist”, "nerd" and "math geek" myths and stereotypes and to show that Science, Technology, Engineering and Math are important and interesting.
- To allow participants an informative yet “fun” experience in an effort to enhance and develop positive attitudes towards courses and careers in the STEM fields.
- To increase the numbers of South East Alberta young men pursuing STEM area career paths.
- To increase media exposure for the STEM areas resulting in greater public understanding of the impact of these fields in society.
"You couldn't improve it. It's just that good." - student feedback Operation Thoth 2012 participant
We wish to acknowledge the Sunrise Rotary Club of Medicine Hat; without their support this conference would not be possible.
This year's event took place on April 20, 2012. The itinerary included a morning tour of Medicine Hat College (building/parking map) performing an experiment in Chemistry, a dissection lab in biology & a tour of the new Power Engineering facility; a provided lunch in the College cafeteria and afternoon tours of Cypress View Veterinary Clinic Ltd, Meggitt Training Systems Canada and Cancarb Ltd. Please note that in order to be part of Operation Thoth's tour of Meggitt all participants are prescreened by Meggitt and due to projects currently under production with the Canadian military all Thoth participants and supervisors had to be born in Canada. In addition Cancarb had clothing restrictions due to the carbon black manufactured at the plant and safety issues. Participants had to wear proper shoes or boots (no open toes), clothing made from natural materials (cotton or wool), and non white (reduces the soiling of the clothes).
Suggested questions that are provided to the young men to ask their job shadow mentor:Operation Thoth Conversation Starters
Please Help
Volunteers: In order to provide this extremely positive opportunity at minimal cost to the participants much of our energy will be spent organizing for this event. We require host sites in the STEM areas for the grade 9 young men to tour and local business to provide donations to the participants with tangible reminders of their experience. Praxis requires one of two supervisors to accompany the participants on their tours. Volunteers are required by Praxis policy to have on file a completed Praxis Volunteer Application Form and/or a current "Criminal Record Check" (Operation Thoth Criminal Record Check Volunteer Letter).
"Service to youth is the rent we pay for the space we occupy on earth." ~~ Jane Deeter Rippin
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Businesses: We would also appreciate business donations towards snacks, the luncheon, participation prizes and gift bags for the boys and volunteers: Business Donation Request Letter, please contact us if you can assist us in any one of these areas.
"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." ~~ Aesop
To become involved with future Operation Thoth Conferences please contact us via email or at 403-527-5365.
STEM Links:
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