Gaining Girl Power
Calcasieu, St. Landry, Avoyelles Check out the new virtual program for girl teens by the nonprofit Safe Havynn Education Centers. Weekend classes are designed to help young women learn life lessons ranging from handling relationships and peer pressure to careers and sex education. Classes are free (thanks to a $1.3 million grant). Now available for all Louisiana teens, the 2021 kick-off was limited to residents of Calcasieu, St. Landry and Avoyelles. Tablets are provided to students without computers (safehavynn.org).
Master’s Degree Debut
Lafayette UL of Lafayette announced the debut of Louisiana’s first and only master’s degree in industrial chemistry starting in the fall of 2021. Substantial job growth is expected in the chemical industry along the I-10 corridor between Lake Charles and Baton Rouge, hence the need for highly specialized industrial chemists. Louisiana ranks second nationally in chemical production. (Inquiries: Dr. August Gallo, Department of Chemistry’s graduate coordinator: gallo@louisiana.edu).
Big Billionaire Bucks
Lake Charles The United Way of Southwest Louisiana received a $5 million donation from author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott (the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos). She is in the process of donating $4.1 billion to 384 select organizations throughout the United States. The United Way of Southwest Louisiana says that Scott’s donation is the single largest gift in its 80-year history (unitedwayslwa).
