Maryland Mentor is Recruiting Virtual Mentors

ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE!

SEPTEMBER 29 – DECEMBER 31, 2020

THE PREDICAMENT: This 2020-21 school year is not like most. COVID-19 has caused schools to teach virtually instead of in-person, which has led to various new challenges for school-aged youth. Recent research on the academic and social/emotional impacts of the pandemic reveals that a large portion of school-aged young people have experienced increased levels of disconnectedness and social isolation, anxiety and general demotivation. With negative impacts like these, the need for quality mentoring has exacerbated.

THE SOLUTION: With this reality in mind, Maryland MENTOR has initiated the “500 Virtual Mentor Recruitment Challenge” campaign with the support of Thread, Big Brother Big Sister of Central Maryland, Community Youth Advance, Best Kids, and close to 50+ Mentoring and Out of School Time programs within Maryland and Washington D.C. This campaign has been possible by the support of Walmart, Under Armor, and other partners across the state. This campaign will provide mentoring programs with the opportunity to promote their program and obtain quality mentors. The goals of this challenge are to:

Highlight the fact that the need for adult volunteer mentors to support our state’s young people as they navigate unprecedented challenges has increased
Support our area’s mentoring and after school programs, who have all but completely transitioned to virtual formats
Recruit and train a critical flow of volunteers to these programs, helping adolescents receive the quality mentoring they deserve.

If you have additional questions please reach out to Sara Haile at S [email protected]

NEW VIRTUAL MENTOR INFO SESSIONS

Would you like more information before completing your virtual mentor application? Register below for an upcoming virtual mentor info session!

Tuesday, October 13, 2020 | 3P – 4P

Friday, October 30, 2020 | 10A – 11A

Tuesday, November 10, 2020 | 3P – 4P

BmoreSTEM Kicks off the Student Advisory Council (SAC)

BmoreSTEM Ecosystem has launched the Student Advisory Council on July 10, 2020. Baltimore City students from local middle schools, high school and colleges convened virtually to get to know each other, learn about BmoreSTEM’s vision and mission. The SAC will be the voice of students in the City, the sounding board for BmoreSTEM’s workgroup initiatives, and ambassadors and leaders in STEM in their schools, neighborhoods, and communities. The SAC will be meeting once a month during the school year to develop a plan and execute goals for the year. Check back here to learn more about each of our Student Advisory Council members and how you can get involved!

Laptops for qualifying students taking AP computer science

Code.org is working with Amazon and the College Board to help ensure students who need laptops at home can finish their AP computer science course and take the exam this year. Students can register at https://collegeboard.tfaforms.net/74. Availability is limited to a first-come, first-served basis. They can use it for the AP exam and keep it afterwards - it’s their laptop to inspire ongoing learning.

This gift to students is made possible through a generous donation from Amazon Future Engineer for students who need laptops at home.

How can you help Baltimore City Schools during the Pandemic?

We have heard from many of you, asking how you can help students in Baltimore get through this difficult time. BmoreSTEM, in consultation with City Schools, would like to share the following opportunities to help City Schools students:

Donate Computers or Tablets: If you have a used, but still serviceable, device you would like to donate, DigiBmore has committed to refurbish, wipe, clean and deliver devices to City Schools students.
Donate to the Baltimore City Public Schools Emergency School Closure Family Support Fund: The Family Support Fund was created at the request of Dr. Santelises to provide vital resources to Baltimore’s communities and schools through challenges associated with school closing and COVID-19. Donations are used to address priority needs for communities, including technology access and food insecurity. The Fund for Educational Excellence is administrating the funds in partnership with City Schools to identify needs, manage funds, and secure contributions. The difficulty and prolonged nature of this uncertain time requires bold, compassionate steps to support our neighbors and fellow Baltimore residents. Donate by clicking here.

Let’s Celebrate Students’ Achievements at the JHU Robotics Tournament

Robotics is a fun and engaging way for students to learn more about engineering and cultivate skills that are important in the workplace. Baltimore City Public School students competed in a robotics tournament at Johns Hopkins University.

WJZ Channel 13 was on hand to cover of the event and showcase excellence in our city. View the coverage on Baltimore City Schools Students Compete In Hopkins Robotics Cup.
Delali Dzirasa, Founder & CEO, Fearless kicked-off the day with openning remarks. Watch the brief introductory video below and read his bio.

Candace Givens Shares Why You Should Pursue the Career You Want

STEM Expanded Learning Database Workgroup Launched

We are happy to announce the formation of our next workgroup, the STEM Learning Database workgroup. Expanded learning refers to opportunities for students after-school, over the summer, and/or at STEM-rich institutions (e.g., museums, zoo, science center)

The new workgroup will support schools and community groups who need additional information when building STEM partnerships. The workgroup will consider criteria for high-quality STEM expanded learning programming and collaborate with existing initiatives to catalog and build matchmaking resources for school and community partnerships.

Please contact Ellie Mictchell or Dawn Shirley by email at [email protected] if you are interested in playing a key role.

Baltimore City Schools is looking for professionals to help mentor youthOctober 21, 2021
Let’s Celebrate Students’ Achievements at the JHU Robotics TournamentFebruary 8, 2020
Candace Givens Shares Why You Should Pursue the Career You WantJanuary 20, 2020

Middle Schoolers Hear about Engineering Careers

For further information, view any of these videos

F-35 The Future of Flight (~4 mins)
First vertical takeoff & landing (~2 mins)
Lockheed Factory (~5 mins)
Helmet Display (~2 mins)

This presentation is an outgrowth of the work of the BmoreSTEM Effective STEM Mentoring Opportunities workgroup. BmoreSTEM is looking for more presenters, especially for:

Medical
Engineering in a Non-defense industry
Advanced Manufactoring
Computing
Cyber
Computer Gaming
Finance/Business/Accounting
Data Analytics
Research
Education

BmoreSTEM Website Updated

A cohort of Towson University seniors majoring in Information Technology spent the fall semester working on a capstone project for us. The project added content and functionality to the BmoreSTEM website. The first enhancement was to revise the look and feel of the website to:

Create a more professional appearance
Enhance consistency across pages
Make it easier to maintain.

The second enhancement was to provide additional detail about the efforts of each of our active workgroups. Finally, the team worked to define requirements for the website to better meet the needs of parents in the Baltimore City community. The team hosted two focus group meetings with representative parents. As a result, the team developed BETA versions of two features. On feature is a repository (searchable database) of STEM offerings in the city. When finished, this repository will summarize local:

After-school and summer STEM programs
STEM Attractions (such as museums and zoos)
Upcoming STEM Events

The other new feature was a curated list of weblinks to aid parents in guiding their children on their exploration of STEM occupations. The purpose of providing these resources is to help parents to inspire an interest in STEM, to help communicate the variety of STEM and STEM-related job opportunities that exist, and to share strategies for preparing for such jobs.

The website committee is looking for STEM professions to volunteer as advisors to vet these resources and suggest additional pertinent resources.

Alternate Spring Break Opportunity to Encourage College Students to Consider Teaching STEM

The STEM Teacher Recruitment Workgroup will pilot an alternative spring break, ASB, experience for undergraduate STEM majors from Johns Hopkins, Morgan State and Notre Dame Universities the week of March 16, 2020. The goal of this experience is to expose current undergraduate students to STEM classrooms in Baltimore City to encourage these students to consider teaching as a career option while serving their local community. Participants will include:

Post-secondary undergraduates who will co-teach with a STEM teacher during their college/university spring break. Students can be freshmen – seniors. The team will work to ensure that freshmen, if selected, are very mature and placed with an appropriate grade level based on their age and maturity.
Baltimore City Secondary STEM teachers including computer science (grades 7-12).

So far two middle schools and one high school have agreed to provide teachers to participate as mentors for undergraduate students. Our goal is to place 5 students with 5 teachers in the pilot year. We are in the process of applying for approval to award CPD units to participating teachers. Teachers would be required to attend a training and reflection meetings, participate in collaborative planning with an assigned undergraduate student and host the student in their science classroom for the week of March 16th, 2020.