The nonprofit organization Science is Elemental (SIE) is looking for scientists eager to support elementary school teachers and spend a few hours a month (flexibly) answering teachers’ questions about their science curriculum. If desired (but not essential for volunteering), there will also be opportunities to speak (virtually or in-person) about your science or career to elementary school students. While some elementary school teachers are well-grounded in the sciences, most are not, as being so is not a requirement for a degree in elementary education, nor for being hired in most school systems. As a result, they may need science support from others to fully understand the material they are teaching.
The goal of this project is to provide the scientific background teachers want to know so that they can better serve their students. We need some scientists now, to complete our testing, and then more once the school year starts. Once the network is live, we plan to provide the answers to teachers’ questions within one hour.
Volunteers will use Slack to receive and answer questions. It is expected that each volunteer monitor Slack, when they have time, for questions being asked. In this manner, volunteers only provide their services when it is convenient for them to do so. Our goal is to have a sufficiently large network of scientist volunteers to allow coverage of the Slack channel for the entire day, and especially during and immediately after school hours.
The qualifications for this volunteer role are:
1) At least three years working in any science (to include computer and data sciences, and engineering fields), or three years graduate study in such fields.
2) Willingness to obtain a Science is Elemental Slack account (at no cost to you)
3) Have some time during the day to monitor the Slack channel, even if it’s only for a few minutes at a time.
4) Desire to help elementary school teachers instill a love for the sciences in their students.
In your response to this opportunity, please indicate if you might be available, depending on scheduling, to help SIE run some tests of the system this summer.
