Mentoring Young Scientists
The Virginia Aquarium, Hampton University, and Coastal Trends are working in partnership to carry out the Mentoring Young Scientists (MYS) program. MYS is a year-long, out-of-school science enrichment program that engages under served, high achieving middle school students in science activities that are related to formal education standards. By providing continuous mentor-student interactions throughout the year, the Mentoring Young Scientists program
- Introduces under served populations to the life sciences and to careers in associated fields
- Instills a positive attitude towards science and increases confidence in science schoolwork
- Offers at-risk teens an on-going, supportive relationship with a caring adult (which has been proven statistically to lower incidences of high-risk behavior)
The program serves as a pipeline for real science to reach the general public in an understandable and meaningful format. Students from Hampton University who participated in the COSIA course and a COSEE Coastal Trends scientist-educator team serve as mentors for MYS participants. The mentor/mentee teams develop the Hampton University student’s coastal trends module into a program for visitors at the Virginia Aquarium. These programs feature demonstrations and video clips, experiments using real-time data, and children’s activities that appeal to a family audience. The programs are presented by MYS participants at the VA Aquarium and other partnering venues throughout the summer, with selected programs becoming part of the Aquarium’s on-going educational plan.
