"Since only 4.2% of entering 9th grade students in America graduate college with a technical degree, we want to mentor the students who meet a specified criteria of STEM interest and proficiency. Many students with both the required interest and proficiency face roadblocks to entering and proceeding through the demanding STEM education pipeline. We can help them overcome these roadblocks by pairing potential STEM students with STEM professionals and/or STEM college students. This type of mentoring relationship will help increase the percentage of students who successfully become a STEM college student and ultimately a STEM professional.

As coaches and teachers interact with students participating in LET’S GO STEM activities, they will identify students that possess keen STEM interest but lack some needed STEM skills and proficiency. Additionally, these same adults will identify students that possess the needed STEM proficiency but lack sufficient STEM interest to enter and persevere in the STEM education pipeline. Mentors paired up with students in each of these two categories can develop the right activities to either increase STEM proficiency or STEM interest.

LET’S GO is partnering with established companies with proven on-line mentoring platforms. These mentoring systems, coupled with LET’S GO STEM mentoring administrators, will pair mentees and mentors and track the efficacy of the STEM mentoring. The objective is to increase the probability that students that have STEM interest and/or STEM proficiency enter and persevere in the demanding STEM education pipeline.

Another form of mentoring is aligned to the existing leadership and life skills programs of the partnering out-of-school organizations. Boys and Girls Clubs and Y’s have effective activities that help youth develop leadership and life skills. STEM students should possess not only STEM interest and proficiency, they should possess the whole boy and whole girls experiences and characteristics needed to navigate through this complex world. Well rounded, physically fit youth with sound values that have strong STEM interest and STEM proficiency is the end goal of the LET’S GO program.

Message to Volunteers: We are looking for inspiring speakers for our career seminars.