I teach two 5th graders science and programming privately three days a week and am trying to get them involved with some engineers/scientists in an open dialogue of sorts to inspire them and give them some insight into the world of applied science. I have already scheduled us for some interesting tours of aerospace companies and a lab or two, but I am really hoping I can find someone interested in an ongoing relationship with my students who we could maybe visit or skype with once a month or so, to keep a thread going that had some continuity. I am trying to change two very bright students lives and could use any help I can get. Where would you look if you were me? Who would you contact? Any ideas whatsoever are appreciated.
Thank you! Mr. W
Perhaps you could ask the kids who they really admire, or what products or things from their own lives are impacting them. I'll bet there are unknown engineers and scientists behind just about every single man made thing they come into contact with on a daily basis.
Reach out to those companies and see if they will put you in touch. Try the PR department possibly for the intro. This will give the kids a real connection to the people.
If these are products where the kid is the end user, the engineers might love to spend an hour a month on skype with them just to gain insight into their lives to make better products.
Some people might agree to help kids because they want to, and that is great, but you will 10x the value for BOTH the kid and the scientist if you find a way for them to really help each other (and it's massively possible).
I've mentored high school / college kids into pro athletes, wildly successful entrepreneurs, activists and non-profit leaders and it's always been rewarding.
Finally, the process of finding a mentor is a skill that most people lack -- what a great chance for you to involve them in finding their own mentors and letting them reach out, send emails, and otherwise discover the power of their own voice and agency.
Fun Fact: When I was in 5th grade back in the late 80s I had a secret pen pal / mentor I found in the back of 2600 Magazine who was in federal prison for hacking ;)
And if they don't want to reach out, don't push them to. 5th graders are incredibly capable and should be given agency to make their own decisions.
Appreciate the reminder that it should be self-directed from the student and his role is to support that direction.
Very sudsval.
A
Contacting a company that has children as its user base is a great idea and I can see how that could be a useful exchange, beyond that it seems like I need to meet an individual who has a personal interest in helping kids.
Great points all around and I am taking them all to heart.
Firstly, cheers and congrats, it sounds like you are already doing good work.
My 2 cents: Hold off just a second before finding an ongoing mentor. By 5th grade students can start to get a feel (might be this year or maybe next year) if they like computers or engineering or space exploration or biology or fast cars or another field/type of science work etc...
Finding a mentor in area of science that a student loves, after sampling different areas of science can make a huge difference in terms of sticking power. And it minimizes the potential issue of too many mentors coming in and out of their lives as you find nice scientists who want to help but they don't click with the students.
It sounds like you are already able to teach science and programming and introduce the students to various scientists and companies and labs. I would continue doing this, as sort of a "middle man and a teacher" until an area of science or type of scientific work grabs the student's attention and he/she connects with it and thirsts to learn more about that thing (for me it was astronomy).
Then work on finding a mentor in that area of science.
If you haven't heard it, Malcolm Gladwell's interviewed Eric Eisner (who started YES Scholars in LA and deal with similar issues regularly) recently and it might of interest: http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/04-carlos-doesnt-reme...
I am in LA and have been a volunteer math tutor for over a decade. Happy to help in other ways if I can.
Disclaimer: I work in Ed-Tech. This is in no way a sales pitch.
Though this is a website that was held in high esteem back in the day and happens to be owned by a member of HN: http://learninfreedom.org/
Best.
We're talking 11 year old children, right?
Leave them be, send them out to play with their mates.
I like my children as I like my phones: batteries fully charged up of play time before it's time to put them to work.
