Student Involvement

Science in Service offers two positions for student involvement: Mentors, and Mentor Coordinators.

Mentors
Science in Service Mentors guide 2nd- through 8th-grade age students through a hands-on science activity weekly. Once a week each mentor goes to a Boys & Girls Clubhouse with a group of 5 to 10 other Science in Service mentors, where each mentor works with 2 or 3 children. 

• Who: Any student who has wants to share science with young people; no prior experience is necessary.
• When: One 2-hour mentoring session per week, weekday afternoons 3:00 to 6:00 pm.
• Commitment: Minimum commitment is 1 quarter; returning Science in Service mentors are welcome.
• How: Complete online sign-up form by posted deadline for the quarter.
• Pay: Most mentors volunteer; students with work study can receive work study funding.

Mentor Coordinators
Science in Service Coordinators are student leaders in the program. They are mentors to the mentors. The coordinators receive advanced training in science outreach, teaching techniques, public service, and civic leadership. They also visit and become familiar with community partners (after-school center or school). The coordinators lead the Science in Service mentor teams at the Boys & Girls Clubs. Their responsibilities include working with the program director to review and adapt science activities, teaching the activities to the volunteer mentors, going to the community site to participate in science mentoring, and helping the volunteer mentors develop their teaching skills at the community site.

• Who: Students who have previous experience in teaching science to children or youth mentorship; prior Science in Service mentors preferred.
• Commitment: One academic year, ~ 8 hours/week.
• How: Applications available late winter to be mentor coordinators in the following academic year.
• Pay: Coordinators receive hourly salary, ~$14/hour.

Training
Stanford science and engineering students are mentored by the Haas Center’s Science in Service Director in best practices for communicating science and principles of effective service. Science in Service students in turn are science mentors to children in the community. The two-part training includes:

• a pre-service workshop in which the students receive an orientation to the program, our community partner, and an introduction to methods for teaching science through mentorship (~2 hours)
• weekly on-site, on-the-job training in teaching science based on an apprenticeship model

For more information, please contact Kelly Beck.