Ignite a Passion; Become a STEM Volunteer

Inspiring Students to love STEM...

Lack of STEM “identity” is often cited as one of the primary reasons that young people do not pursue STEM fields.  With this in mind, STEMup BR crafted a mission and developed a mentoring model to address the issue of STEM identity early on, thus increasing students’ chances of graduating from high school prepared for success in college and career in Baton Rouge’s growing knowledge economy.  SIGN-UP TO VOLUNTEER!

Our Model:  

• Experiential -  Volunteer mentors provide engaging, inquiry-based and relevant learning opportunities
• Sustained - Mentors meet with students multiple times or at least four hours at a time, as often as possible
• Targeted - We recruit participants from groups underrepresented in STEM fields
• Measurable - We measure student STEM interest, knowledge, and skills + Mentor satisfaction

EBR Students are tomorrow’s STEM leaders, innovators, and change-makers.  Building STEM identity calls for a continuum of STEM-rich activities, over time through multiple programs, events, and mentoring activities.  We often partner with community teams or organizations that wish to volunteer and supply the project lesson and often supplies.  AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers help facilitate logistics and visits.

• Short-term, one-day mentoring challenges
  • Students participate in intensive challenge or competition, during a school day with teacher present.
• Long-term, 4-5 session mentoring projects
  • We collaborate with teacher to create an engineering or IT project that completes curriculum unit or standards. We train volunteers and provide supplies. Generally, sessions are every other week for 60-90 minutes.
• Saturday competitions or Maker Faires
  • Weekend events provide a great opportunity for families to learn more about STEM while their children explore, make, and engineer. 
• Internships/Job Shadowing/Capstone Projects
  • These options provide a great opportunity for the student (or teacher) to experience high-demand workplace learning environments and build industry-specific relevant skills and information.