The IEEE TryEngineering Together program is pleased to announce it is partnering with the Houston ISD school system to roll out STEM initiatives to 3rd-5th grade students.  By partnering with the largest school district in Texas, TryEngineering Together will be able to impact over 300 students through STEM eMentoring.

TryEngineering Together was developed by Cricket Media and IEEE to bring STEM mentoring to under resourced areas.  Research shows that one-third of students have lost an interest in science by the time they reach fourth grade. With women and minorities representing just 25% of today’s STEM workforce, it is critical to inspire young people in these underrepresented communities and develop their interest in STEM.

The TryEngineering Together program hosts an electronic platform of articles and activities for teachers and students. Participating teachers have free access to the platform along with additional resources and  training on how to teach STEM more effectively. Teachers will also be able to coordinate STEM- related activities through an assigned curriculum.

A huge part of the TryEngineering Together program is the 1:1 mentor relationship where each student is matched with a volunteer mentor. Teachers assign topics and related articles. After both the student and mentor  have  read the article, they write letters to each other in order to exchange thoughts and ideas. Topics covered range from wind energy and saving the environment to exploring the wonders of flight.

TryEngineering Together is unique in that it is a 100% secure platform that prompts mentors by giving helpful hints on what to write about with their students.  By pairing students with mentors, students have access to positive role models while learning more about STEM concepts and preparing for more advanced STEM study.

Mentors can support this program by volunteering 2-3 hours a month, and they can access the platform from anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in learning more about this program, please see this short video: https://youtu.be/1JLCoHf8BJw

IEEE and Cricket Media are pleased to offer a number of eMentoring opportunities to assist us with the Houston school system launch in September 2019.  If you would like to apply to be a mentor, please sign up at https://app.tryengineeringtogether.com/signup/tet19.