Thanks Kevin, indeed the impact upon the mentors is huge. These are folks that have not previously thought of themselves as content experts. Their mentoring provides both this boost of self-confidence and provides them with a cohort of fellow student and faculty mentors through which to experience their studies. Existing evaluation of Service Learning by undergraduates points to this cohort has having significant impact on the mentors academic identity and so STEM retention. We are gathering such data from our mentors.

We work to see these mentors and programs catalyze further community involvement. This has already happened in one of our STEM outposts - the public library in El Eito, where three adults have devoted themselves to the three technologies (3d printing, robots, makey-makey) in their pilot makerspace, while the librarian herself has received companion funding from the local gov lab (Los Alamos) for additional equipment and training.

And regarding the tough question of matching mentor/protegee characteristics I find that kids look beyond color and gender to shared experience/struggle when connecting with mentors. 

Thanks Rosann.

1. Our disciplinary Mentoring Curriculum is being built from the ground up: starting with our collaborating classroom teachers in consultation with our college faculty we then co-build instruments with our undergraduate mentors. To take 9th grade math as an example, we have mentoring in place (lunch and afterschool) 4 days a week to give small group help to those struggling in algebra as well as in class mentoring 1 day a week for the (advanced) geometry students where we augment instruction with parametrized curves through javascript as ways to construct and print novel shapes in Tinkercad.

2. As in one students come to us through particular teachers and to date have therefore not been of mixed-age. Our one exception is our middle school afterschool robotics club, with a mix of 7th and 8th graders.

3. At present our 16 mentors serve over 120 mentees in three schools and two libraries. Their presence has transformed classrooms and led to real demand - while positive reports from mentors has also generated greater interest in serving. Our budget precludes growing beyond 20 mentors - though we have received a gift from a local company and 3 of our  partners have sought and received grants to partner with us and adults in the community have come forward look for ways to work with us. In the short term we will cycle our mentors through the 3 schools - this will maximize their exposure but of course leave many gaps. In the long run we will attract more funds from more sources and bring greater coverage.

4. The bulk of our mentees are in grades 7-9. We will track them by remaining in their lives. In addition to their changing attitudes toward STEM we will track their enrollment and progress in our Dual Credit Offerings. Re our mentors, there are at present more STEM job postings with the state in Sante Fe and Forest Service and the lab in Los Alamos then we can fill. We anticipate that the bulk of our STEM majors will continue to graduate into these positions. As these are local we expect to be able to not only track their advancement but we fully expect to keep them engaged as community STEM mentors.

Thanks Caitlin. The most telling feedback so far from the mentors has been the realization that their math knowledge, like that of their protegees, is fragile, spotty and too tied to context. In working with faculty and school teachers to design instruments for mentoring they have a fresh opportunity to mature their mathematical thinking. I am a firm believer in your "Hometown Ambassador" project - for until the mentor establishes trust she can not make real headway. In addition - our hometown mentors have had too few opportunities to give back - and so they welcome the chance to re-enter their old schools.

Thanks Chris. I have observed it anecdotally, specifically female preferring female mentors. I will now include it in our evaluation of mentor/protegee relationships. Is there literature round this factor that you have found helpful.