July 23rd at 7:00 pm at the McCormick Tribune Center Forum, Northwestern University, Evanston Campus is the world premiere of the Oncofertility Saturday Academy documentary film.

The film describes the story of 15 juniors and 14 seniors from Young Women’s Leadership Charter School of Chicago, who were selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants, to participate in a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn about the emerging, new field of Oncofertility.

This program provides the students with the opportunity to work alongside scientists and clinicians who are making new discoveries and providing healthcare everyday for the Oncofertility patient. Through these direct interactions with professionals, the students are exposed to the wide variety of academic and career paths that they can consider pursuing.

Lastly, the program provides the space for the students to develop bonds with each other, the professionals, and their medical school mentors. The students’ connection to the Oncofertility Saturday Academy continues beyond the duration of the program. After the students graduate from high school, we remain in communication to provide the necessary support needed to keep them focused on their academic goals and to become the next generation of women science leaders.

Oncofertility Saturday Academy began is 2007 as the result of the science partnership between Northwestern University and Young Women’s Leadership Charter School of Chicago.

One of the main goals of the Oncofertility Saturday Academy (OSA) of Chicago is to provide a multifaceted support network to the high school female participants that will help prepare and foster their academic and career pursuits. The support network provided directly from Northwestern University and Young Women’s Leadership Charter, includes the scientists, clinicians, medical and graduate students and educators. Beyond the walls of these two academic institutions, it has been the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings of the high school girls who have played a key role in the development of this support network. Since the initiation of OSA, it has been the parents/guardians of the high school girls who have made the sacrifices and arrangements to attend the informational meetings, to pick up the high school girls from the after-school workshops during the work week, and to drop off the high school girls bright and early at 7:15 am on Saturday mornings to catch the bus to attend the Northwestern University sessions. It is because of this support from the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and siblings of the high school girls that OSA of Chicago is having the inaugural Parent Oncofertility Saturday Academy (POSA) this coming Saturday, March 7, 2009 from 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. Northwestern University is actively preparing to host the 29 high school student participants and 58 parents/guardians. The students and parents/guardians will be bused to and from Young Women’s Leadership Charter School to enjoy lunch and participate in workshops led by Northwestern faculty, staff, and students. The parents/guardians will learn about the following:

· Scientific and medical concepts the high school girls learned during the OSA.

· Academic programs, funding opportunities and coursework requirements needed for the high school girls to pursue a degree in science or medicine.

· Variety of science and medical career options that are available to the high school girls.

While the parents/guardians participate in their workshops, the high school girls will be working on their oncofertility group projects that will be showcased at the program graduation and posted to the OSA website. Northwestern University is looking very forward to providing this opportunity to the parents/guardians. We hope that the parents/guardian gain valuable knowledge and skills to continue supporting the 29 high school girls as they continue to pursue their academic and career goals. Next week, visit the OSA website (osa.northwestern.edu) to view the photographs that will be taken at the inaugural Parent Oncofertility Saturday Academy (POSA).

With the emergence of the new interdisciplinary field of the oncofertility, how can we expose, inspire, and support the future generations of oncofertility scholars? Consider the Oncofertility Saturday Academy (OSA) of Chicago science education program model. OSA Chicago is a collaborative effort between Northwestern University and Young Women’s Leadership Charter School initiated in 2007. OSA has created a dynamic access point to oncofertility for a diverse population of junior and senior high school girls. It is a two-year program that focuses on the basic science and clinical application of oncofertility. The program provides engaging and challenging Saturday learning modules, led by faculty, staff, and students of Northwestern University, facilitated in state-of-the-art laboratories and clinics (please visit, osa.northwestern.edu to view the entire OSA Chicago curriculum and video). OSA has already shown to have a positive impact on the lives of the participants by encouraging and preparing them to pursue undergraduate degrees in science and medicine. In fact, there are a total of 15 past participants who are now in college. All 15 of these young women are pursuing science, medical, or engineering degrees.  Will this science education program model inspire and support high school girls to become oncofertility scholars?