Are You an Engineer?

YouthFriends Partners with Project Lead The Way

E-Mentor a future engineer online. It's fun. It's easy. It makes a difference! Volunteers needed to mentor students online. Project Lead The Way (PLTW) connects students with engineering professionals, so that they gain real world applications of what they are learning in the classroom. PLTW are classes taken during the school day as part of the curriculum; students need to interact with working professionals in order to explore various engineering disciplines. Regionwide, there are more than 5,000 high school students taking PLTW courses, volunteer engineer mentors like you can play an enormous part in their success.

During the upcoming school year, PLTW and YouthFriends are piloting a new e-Mentor project to match PLTW students in the Liberty School District with local engineers via the internet. Volunteers will need to be available to 1-2 students via email to be interviewed as an e-Mentor, and to email throughout the year on engineering topics. Some schools may also invite e-mentors to the classroom to meet their student at the beginning or end of the semester. View sample interview questions here.   

YouthFriends conducts background checks for each applicant who will be working directly with a student on a continuing basis. View screening criteria here. Once an application and background screening has been completed, e-mentors will be matched with student(s) by teachers in the participating classrooms. All correspondence will be monitored by the teacher to ensure a professional and cordial exchange between students and mentors.

About Project Lead The Way - Kansas City (PLTW-KC) PLTW's mission is to ensure that America succeeds in the increasingly high-tech and high-skill global economy, by partnering with middle schools and high schools to prepare students to become the most innovative and productive in the world.

PLTW is the nation’s leading provider of rigorous and innovative Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education for middle schools and high schools. PLTW’s comprehensive curriculum emphasizes critical thinking, creativity, innovation and real-world problem solving. The hands-on, project-based program engages students on multiple levels, exposes them to areas of study that they typically do not pursue, and provides them with a foundation and proven path to college and career success in STEM related fields.

PLTW courses are offered in 42 Kansas City area high schools and 20 middle schools in 22 school districts including Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas, North Kansas City, Shawnee Mission, Hickman Mills, Liberty, Blue Valley and Independence. To date, PLTW-Kansas City has served more than 20,000 students in the Kansas City metro area.

To find out more about PLTW, go to their website at mcckc.edu/pltwkc.