Your Role as a Mentor
Mentoring sounds like a lot of work; however, not to worry – it’s only a one hour per week commitment for the duration of the program you are assigned, with a potential to continue into the school year, depending on individual program schedules and the desire of the mentor to continue the relationship with the existing program.
The mentors do not need to develop curriculum, nor have teaching experience. The Program is looking for STEM professionals who are excited about STEM subjects and STEM learning.
As a mentor you will introduce students to STEM careers and industries. Foundation Staff has worked closely with teachers to develop a presentation and mentoring schedule that will be tailored to the needs of the class as well as fit your schedule. The curriculum and experimental materials will be provided for you; you will also receive travel reimbursements for the days you will visit the classroom*. Introduction of the scientific and engineering design process will occur through experimentation and hands-on STEM activities such as making simple machines, robots, rockets, or exploring the local environmental issues or natural habitats and guiding students through the investigative processes.
Part of your role will be to help students develop their own STEM project through assisting with research and experimentation development. Mentors are placed in the classroom with the aim of opening the student’s views to the world as it is affected by STEM and how it applies to everyday life. The research should be student-driven and will develop from the student’s interest — a mentor is only meant to support and guide the students through using the scientific and/or engineering design method. Students will be encouraged to continue their experimentation, complete the project they have developed through the program, and enter it into the Sacramento Regional STEM Fair. With the help of the school-year teachers, the students will participate in the culminating event to cement the ideas learned in the program.
State Workers & Union Members Mentoring Leave Credit
Donate your time! As a non-profit organization, we need volunteers to be successful and we know that certain departments and organizations for state workers provide a Mentoring Leave credit – you get rewarded for donating to organizations like ours!
For State workers and Union Members, check your Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for a section entitled “Mentoring Leave Credit”. This section allows for state union members to take their time off of work to volunteer their time as mentors and “get paid” in vacation hours. Learn more about it in your MOU!
We want to make it as easy as possible for you to designate how many hours you have served as a volunteer for our Program, thus we have developed a Mentoring Leave Credit Form for you to keep track of your hours!
Tax Deductable
Tax ID #91-2169205
Contributions to the NSE Foundation are Tax Deductible —
For additional information contact Nadia Compton, Director at (916) 441-3150 or ncompton@sacstemfair.org