The New England Section has a new initiative to support mentoring in STEM education. There are also two other programs. These are:
- New Section-based panel discussions for section high schools – we are looking for both interested high schools and members to participate
- Support for a well-known and successful mentoring by one of our award-winning Educator Associates in Gilford, NH whose online program consists of an hour/week for 4 to 5 weeks
- AIAA's new Mentoring program which connects members to students for half or all of a school year
Please consider participating in one or more of these efforts. They are popular and rewarding for both the mentor and the students
1. Panel discussions for section high schools
The Section is starting a membership mentoring program and is currently looking for high schools that may want to partner with us. This could be a great opportunity for students that are interested in pursuing STEM careers who may not know what career pathways are available to them. The goal of this event is to make engineering feel more accessible and possible to any student who has genuine interest.
Mentorship would first take form as a virtual panel discussion, where there will be 3-4 panelists with a wide array of experience and backgrounds. The event would start with a brief presentation about engineering, and will be followed by a Q&A session.
One highlight of the panel presentation will be a demonstration by Professor David Guo, chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Southern New Hampshire University of their new wind tunnel facility. (This option depends on access to the school not being blocked by covid restrictions)
To support this effort, we have been offered the temporary loan of demonstration materials used by the Structural Dynamics TC to help us get started before we purchase our own.
Students will also have the opportunity to ask questions anonymously to encourage participation from everyone. This event can be personalized if there is a specific topic of interest and the event will be about an hour long.
If interested, please email qiana.curcuru@gmail.com, to coordinate details.
2. Gilford, NH e-mentoring program
Dan Caron at the Gilford high school is teaching 2 aerospace classes and an intro to engineering class this year. He is organizing a total of 38 eMentors this year - the largest group ever! Here is a description of his program.
"Thank you for volunteering to be an e-Mentor to a Gilford student. The e-Mentor Program's goal is to provide the engineering students with an opportunity to become more familiar with the work place. To accomplish this, each student is partnered with a volunteer from the AIAA-NES, NASA, FAA, NH ANG, NHSPE and other organizations.
"Participants are encouraged to communicate with each other once each week. The student will make the initial contact. Your reply should be a very informal introduction. Individuals should introduce themselves by explaining who they are and what they do. No need to go into detail right away, there'll be time for that later.
He is placing students now and will continue until they all have an eMentor.
Dan has been repeatedly recognized for his work – notice the 1999 AIAA award:
Technology/Engineering Education, School to Careers Coor., Gilford HS
WinnAero Director of Education Services & ACE Academy Director
"Engineering & Aerospace Education"
Civil Air Patrol AEM Teacher of the Year 2013
AFA Teacher of the Year 2004
ITEEA Distinguished Technology Educator 2001
AIAA Educator Achievement Award 1999
EbD-STEM Professional Development/Curriculum Associate/Author
Contact Dan at dwcaron@hotmail.com
3. AIAA's new Mentoring program
Mentor Matching is the latest addition to an expanding lineup of our services to support members' professional development needs. It is an online tool – including a searchable database – that facilitates the establishment of mentoring relationships. It is user driven, allowing registered Mentees to search among registered Mentors using specified criteria to find individuals whose experience and expertise match areas in which they wish to be mentored. Likewise, registered Mentors can search for and identify potential Mentees.
Most mentoring relationships should last from six months to a year
Current AIAA members can learn more about the program and enroll here: https://engage.aiaa.org/mentor-match/getting-started
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Endri Lesha
STEM K-12 Officer
lesha.endri@gmail.com------------------------------