Rice is reaching out to encourage minority children in Houston to pursue careers in science and engineering. The Center for Excellence and Equity in Education (CEEE) will host fourth- and fifth-graders this Friday in conjunction with the Houston Independent School District’s Say YES to a Youngster’s Future program.

The Say YES program, which is funded by Shell Oil Co., is a program designed by the National Urban Coalition to help minority children succeed in math, science and technology. CEEE Director Richard Tapia, the Noah Harding Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics and the son of Mexican immigrants who was the first in his family to attend college, will share his own story with the children. Enrique Barrera, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, will highlight the fun side of engineering with a science magic show.

The program will start at 11:30 a.m. in McMurtry Auditorium, Anne and Charles Duncan Hall, and will conclude with a campus tour.

CEEE, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Education Outreach and Training Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure, seeks to promote greater participation of underrepresented groups in the sciences and to encourage academic excellence for all.

—Jade Boyd