RETIRED MEN’S ASSOCIATION V OLUME 18 I SSUE9 Cigar Box Bulletin S EPTEMBER 2015 BRAIN BUILDING ZONE: Acton Discovery Museum Neil Gordon, CEO Reporter: Abner Salant Neil Gordon is currently Discovery Museum Background INSIDE THIS ISSUE: CEO of the Discovery and Programs Museum in Acton, MA. RMA Trip to Chris- 4-5 He was previously COO he museum has programs looking tian Science Mother Church for the Boston Chil- at ways to get kids engaged in dren’s Museum. Before T learning at an early age. These RMA Annual 5 that, he served in the efforts are based on what researchers tell Dinner public domain. He di- us about young brains and their develop- Anniversaries and 7 rected the Office of ment. The following modified quote Birthdays Budget Management for the City of Boston. from Picasso illustrates an important RMA Outing: Na- 8 tional Emerging Earlier, he was the Associate Director of the part of their philosophy and approach: Infectious Boston Mayor’s Office of Jobs and Commu- “Every child is born an artist and a sci- Diseases Lab nity Service. Prior to coming to Massachu- entist; the problem is how to remain one RMA History 9 setts, he was in the Pennsylvania Depart- once they grow up.” Brain research sug- RMA Bulletin Board 10 ment of Environmental Resources. gests that we are born with much of Haemophilia 11 these skills to some degree but they can Mr. Gordon attended the Kennedy School of be enhanced. Government at Harvard University for an MCRP in Energy and Environmental Policy. Earlier, he earned a BS in Geology at Dick- The Discovery Museum was founded by inson College. the community under the leadership of UPCOMING Don Verger, who believed that the way MEETINGS to foster kids’ natural curiosity was by hands-on discovery. It had 130,000 fam- Friday, October 9 Continued on Page 3 Friday, November 13 September Meeting Minutes Friday December 11 Ship’s Bell Rang at 10:00 AM Reporter: Bill Johnson l Persson called the meeting to The Raytheon retirees have an Oct 15 order at 10 am; the cell phones (1pm) meeting at Raytheon HDQ, Wal- A were silenced, and Rey tham, to discuss school volunteer service Graunas lead us in the Pledge of Alle- work. giance, after which we sang the Star Spangled Banner. Some thoughts were mentioned about the 9/11 tragedy and why Osama Bin Continued on Page 2 P AGE 2 V OLUME 18 I SSUE9 Minutes — Continued Laden was who he was. Apparently, he was a socio- Guests to RMA: path who wanted attention on a grand scale (and he got it, at the expense of many others). Ralph Bryant has lived for 40 years in a house built before George Washington’s time. Nick Veeder introduced one new member: Joe Kerr was from Birmingham, AL, before moving to Ken Coleman was presented Waltham, MA. RMA Travelers: Merrill Mack visited Greece and Greenland in July Thanks to: and August. (July and August are next to each other: Greece and Greenland are not.) He took the Sea Paul Sturgis - coffee Dreams sailing yacht around the Greek islands and John Iberg – donuts and fruit from Stop & another ship around Northern Canada and Greenland. Shop Lou Petrovik visited Slovenia, Zagreb, the Dalmatian Richard Smith – badge set-up Coast & Dubrovnik, in and around Yugoslavia, to cel- Abner Salant – Speaker Report ebrate his heritage. He saw the 1992-93 war sites. Bill Johnson – Minutes Harold Wilkinson visited Charleston, SC – just in Don Sherman & Bob Curtiss – slides and time to play a round of golf in the rain! web site Art Phipps – photographer Ron Riggert - audio Continued on Page 4 The Cigar Box Bulletin P. O. Box 261 Wayland, MA 01778 Thank You To Our Board of Directors Proof Readers Yutaka Kobayashi, Al Persson President Bob Curtiss, Karl Geiger, Ray Atkins 1st Vice President Ben Stahl Chris Hammer 2nd Vice-President Merrill Mack Treasurer Mort Brond Program Chairman Bob Diefenbacher Editor of Bulletin Published monthly by the Bill Ely Past President Retired Men’s Association Board Members of Weston, Wayland, Karl Geiger Ron Riggert Wally Hart Frank Lyons Sudbury and surrounding Nick Veeder Bill Beebee communities. C IGAR B OX B ULLETIN P AGE 3 Speaker — Continued ily visitors last year, with 13,000 kids participating in ing, and that fact could prevent the meeting of their field trips and 28,000 involved in 1,400 classrooms. It children’s needs. The Museum has started a program has experienced growth since 2009, serving 35% to fill the gap, called Brain Building Zone, with a team more, with membership increase over 30% and 96% of expert partners. They will be building a gallery, of visitors who would recommend the Museum to a covering children from birth to age 3, that will help friend. It serves a large region, covering visitors with- instruct parents to develop their critical skills. in a 45 minute drive. The Museum is about more than science; it is about kids and families and it has a chil- dren’s museum with an emphasis on science. More Between birth and age 2, the average brain mass tri- importantly, to influence kids, you must influence par- ples from 333 to 999 grams. Seeing and hearing devel- ents. op first, followed by language, understanding, and speech. By age 3, much of the cognitive and executive functions have grown. This explains why it is more Emphasis is on the four C’s: Critical thinking, Creativ- difficult to make new brain synaptic connections to ity, Collaboration, and Curiosity. That is, being critical facilitate learning later in life. It also suggests that we and creative in their thinking, curious about the world need to shift the balance of investment in education around them, and able to explore collaboratively. An from college towards early life. unfortunate statistic is that 40% of all Americans will never visit a museum of any kind, and in an attempt to change this, a lot of time is spent on the “Open Door Synaptic development is almost as frequent at age 2 as Connections Program.” It includes free family admis- it is in adulthood. It is generally accepted that the syn- sion on Friday nights as well as special attention for apse development plays a role in the formation of military families, the disadvantaged, and day care pro- memory and that this connection between two neurons viders, among others. Over 20% of visits are free, or is strengthened when both are active at the same time. almost so, and the program has doubled since 2009. In a child’s first years, synapses may be created at a They are also in the third year of offering a free even- rate of 700/second, including the pruning or removal ing speaker series. of less-important or less-used ones. The formation of synapses between neurons in the nervous system is called synaptogenesis and it continues throughout a Brain Building Zone person’s lifespan. The initial explosion in the early development phase is called exuberant synaptogene- sis. Processes which are not used, or fail to develop Current research indicates that 80-85% of brain- normally during their critical period, will not develop building occurs in the first three years of life. This normally later on. contrasts to the prior view that genetic blueprints pro- grammed an individual’s wiring diagram. This applies to basic pathways, as opposed to main circuits which The initial synaptic connections are between local control physiological functions. These billions of “un- neurons in a given region, but then they start to form programmed” connections only await environmental connections between different regions. Stimulation of and experiential inputs to complete the architecture of synapses formation is a serve-and-return process the brain. A survey found that the majority of parents based on our senses. Children, when babbling, point- and other adults lack a basic knowledge of child rear- ing, and using other actions, stimulate an adult re- sponse such as a smile or words. Each stage builds on Information was provided in handouts, but more is a preceding one and, when deprived of sensory stimu- available on the Museum web site lation, can affect future behavior. Thus, the ability to www.discoverymuseums.com. respond appropriately to pleasure and pain requires the Continued on Page 6 P AGE 4 V OLUME 18 I SSUE9 Minutes—Continued Al Persson discussed RMA cost control with respect Gerry Brody presented the RMA vital statistics. to printed and email bulletins. A poll of the members was taken to see who would be willing to pay higher Al Persson spoke on health of members: dues, individually, for the printed version. Harry Ainsworth passed away three weeks ago. Frank Lyons had some good words for this former Chris Hammer described some future Special neighbor. Events: (Later, Merrill Mack sent e-mail noting the passing of Maurice Fitzgerald (Sept. 7). Maurice had been Annual RMA dinner inactive due to illness.) Reserve tables for groups of 8-10; Wed, Oct14, 2015; 5 PM cocktails; Marlborough, MA, $50/person to For the humor session, Harold Wilkinson then ex- Chris: 978-239-6764, [email protected] plained to us the red dot on a Hindu woman’s fore- head; the car keys and panties situation; and the sui- Tuesday, Sept. 15, Christian Science Mother cide bomber in Paradise. Church, Boston (3 sites, close together at Hunting- ton & Mass. Aves.) The ROMEO lunch was organized by Frank Lyons at BU Medical Campus, Oct 6, Infectious Diseases the former Route 20 Bistro. Lab.; car pool to 710 Albany St., South Boston; lunch at University Cafeteria.