
Ask HN: 5th grader seeking science mentor in California - doubleyou
Hi all,<p>I teach two 5th graders science and programming privately three days a week and am trying to get them involved with some engineers&#x2F;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.<p>Thank you!
Mr. W
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ada1981
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 ;)

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zachlatta
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
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.

A

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theideasmith
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
Thank you!

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

~~~
VertexRed
Yeah, I also think Quora should be a better match for this as profiles are
much more detailed there

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qwrusz
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...](http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/04-carlos-doesnt-
remember)

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
Thank you, great advice.

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

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schoen
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
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!

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amjaeger
Hi, Unfortunately I do not live in California - But maybe look into existing
FIRST lego league teams in the
area.[http://www.firstinspires.org/](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.

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PebblesHD
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.

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asimuvPR
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.

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mrdmnd
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
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/](https://www.reddit.com/user/yewew/)).
Thank you so much for your interest.

~~~
Mz
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/](http://learninfreedom.org/)

Best.

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

~~~
doubleyou
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.

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ak310i
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.

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

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B1FF_PSUVM
> 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.

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

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B1FF_PSUVM
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.

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Mz
For some people, visiting labs and the like _is_ play time. You haven't met
these two kids. He has. Presumably, he knows them better than you do.

~~~
canyon289
I agree with this. Boeing let me see their 717 and c17 plane factories when I
was a kid. Was an insanely fun experience as a kid and formative for who I am
now. Glad I did that that particular day rather than hang out with my friends

