The New SOCK: The Society of Physics Student’s Reimagined Outreach Program

The Society of Physics Students (SPS) is a chapter-based professional association for undergraduate physics students. In addition to providing professional development for its members, SPS also encourages physics outreach on the chapter level. The major yearly outreach initiative, the Science Outreach Catalyst Kit (SOCK), has supplied SPS chapters with materials and instructions to perform outreach demonstrations in their communities since 2001. The SOCK development process also provides 1-2 SPS members the opportunity to develop science outreach and program development skills as summer interns. In 2017, the format of the SOCK was examined and reimagined to make more effective use of the budget and to expand the impact of the program on SPS chapters. As a result, 100 SOCKs were delivered in 2017 compared to approximately 25 in previous years. With the addition of online outreach resources, the remaining 712 of the total 812 SPS chapters can still benefit from the outreach program. Overall, the new program provides more outreach support to more members using approximately the same budget as previous years.