Big Block of Cheese Day (FIRST + the US Government)

[Loralyn P]

Hey all! Today is Big Block of Cheese Day! Isn't that exciting?

Well, maybe it needs a little explanation. Long story short, when back when Andrew Jackson was President, he one had a two ton block of cheese hauled into the White House and encouraged anyone and everyone to take a hunk. He and his administration then went around to all of those cheesed-up people and talked to them one-on-one to get a gist of public opinion and the problems facing Americans those days.

In modern times, it isn't so feasible to haul some cheese to the White House and have everyone take some. However, talking to the people and getting public opinion from citizens is still really important, so that's why the White House is hosting the second annual Virtual Big Block of Cheese Day!

Basically, anyone with a Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Tumblr can ask questions directly to US officials with the hashtag #AskTheWH or going to the respective Official White House account on each of those platforms.

On Twitter specifically, there are designated blocks for specific topics. From 3 pm to 4:30 pm EST (about 30 mins from me writing this post!) officials relating to STEM will be answering questions:

3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

• Director of the Office of Science & Technology Policy Dr. John Holdren - @WhiteHouseOSTP
• U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith - @USCTO
• OSTP Assistant Director for Strategic Communications and Senior Policy Analyst Kristin Lee - @Lee44

I think this is a really great opportunity for teams to interact with the US government and figure out their stance on STEM, education, etc. Not every question will be answered, but if enough of us ask them, we'll be sure to get more than a few!

Here's the official page for this, for more info: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/...-its-feta-ever