Ask HN: 5th grader seeking science mentor in California

74 points by doubleyou 9 years ago | 36 comments

Hi all,

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

ada1981 9 years ago |

The key to effective mentorship is 1) finding someone who has something that you want 2) helping them, for free, get something they want. As a result, you gain access to the mindset that has the thing you want.

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 ;)

zachlatta 9 years ago | |

Great advice, except I'd change one thing: encourage the kids reach out, don't do it yourself.

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.

ada1981 9 years ago | | |

Yes, I agree and hoped to convey that.

Appreciate the reminder that it should be self-directed from the student and his role is to support that direction.

Very sudsval.

doubleyou 9 years ago | |

Fantastic response! Thank you! Some of the PR departments I have already contacted I pitched it as a possible marketing move, to use the mentorship somehow to make the company look altruistic, etc (they would be doing a great service, truly) but that was the only real benefit I could see for them. What else could we offer?

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.

meangreen 9 years ago | | |

In user research exercises, designer/engineers can find unique perspectives by observing children (who have a fresh set of eyes) interact with their device/product. Could perhaps pique the interests of professionals using this approach: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/videos/2100/Field-Observations-w...

theideasmith 9 years ago |

I'm a college freshman now and I wish my middle and elementary school teachers were as devoted to their students as you seem to be. I would suggest going to ResearchGate.com where a lot of scientists and grad students hang out. It's likely you'll be able to find one there who would be interested in helping them out.

doubleyou 9 years ago | |

Thank you!

theideasmith 9 years ago | | |

Also you can try asking this question on Quora if this HN thread and researchgate doesn't get anywhere.

qwrusz 9 years ago |

Hi,

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.

doubleyou 9 years ago | |

Thank you, great advice.

euyyn 9 years ago |

I'd be interested. Send me a private message via reddit and we can talk: https://www.reddit.com/user/euyyn

schoen 9 years ago |

It might be interesting and helpful to try to narrow down what areas of science or engineering would be most interesting to them (if you know, and if the kids know!).

doubleyou 9 years ago | |

These kids are have diverse interests, they like space and sharks and horses and have been enjoying making art with coding. It's hard to peg them!

amjaeger 9 years ago |

Hi, Unfortunately I do not live in California - But maybe look into existing FIRST lego league teams in the area.http://www.firstinspires.org/ There are a lot of volunteers that work with the kids. They might be able to join an existing team abd it would also get them involved with other students interested in science and engineering.

PebblesHD 9 years ago |

Sadly I'm not in America and can't offer any interesting contacts, but I'd like to say this is fantastic, and for kids who are interested in engineering and applied sciences this would be an amazing opportunity. I wish more people were as dedicated to giving kids a great education experience as you seem to be! Nicely done.

asimuvPR 9 years ago |

I do STEM Q&A sessions at schools various times a year. I cannot mentor anyone at the moment, but I could schedule time and do a Q&A session with them. No strings attached. Email in profile.

Disclaimer: I work in Ed-Tech. This is in no way a sales pitch.

mrdmnd 9 years ago |

Great thought. Where in California? If in San Francisco (or the Bay Area in general) I can think of a number of places and people who would be happy to talk in person.

doubleyou 9 years ago | |

We are in LA but because it is a private home school situation we are lucky enough that traveling to SF is a real possibility. We were already planning to visit an autonomous car start up in SF sometime this month. If you want to pm me on reddit please do (https://www.reddit.com/user/yewew/). Thank you so much for your interest.

Mz 9 years ago | | |

Are you on any of the gifted homeschooler lists? When my sons were children being homeschooled in California, I knew folks active in the LA area. It seems to me that would be a better path for figuring this out than posting on HN.

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.

arrosenberg 9 years ago | |

Same question. If you are in San Diego, let me know.

doubleyou 9 years ago | | |

LA, but we can do field trips. Feel free to pm me on reddit (https://www.reddit.com/user/yewew/) thank you!

digitalsushi 9 years ago |

I think you should somewhat anonymously chronicle this if you're successful, because you could amplify that 2 by some factor.

doubleyou 9 years ago | |

If anybody wants to found a startup with me that makes it easier to set up mentorships with tech companies and labs in a way that would somehow benefit the companies as much as it would the students, lets do it.

ak310i 9 years ago | | |

maybe instead of going after the companies (who might feel the need to get some tangible benefit) you can search linkedin for employees at some of the co's that the 2 students admire. perhaps a person may simply enjoy the benefit of helping someone.

GmeSalazar 9 years ago |

Great initiative, Mr. W. Please keep us posted on it.

B1FF_PSUVM 9 years ago |

> I teach two 5th graders science and programming privately three days a week

We're talking 11 year old children, right?

Leave them be, send them out to play with their mates.

doubleyou 9 years ago | |

They want to visit laboratories and talk to engineers, hard to stop them.

B1FF_PSUVM 9 years ago | | |

Well, adults are supposed to have better judgement than children.

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.