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How To Start If you would like to develop
and present an Engineers Week program to a local school, perhaps your child's school,
determine whether or not the school has local business partners, including your company,
that might be making National Engineers Week visits. You should also check with your
employer's community or educational affairs office for advice and touch base with any
local National Engineers Week Committee that might be planning local outreach programs. If
an organization already plans to work with your selected school, offer to participate. If
you're on your own, contact your child's math or science teacher. Read below for tips on
contacting the school and for developing your presentation.
If you are interested in
reaching more than one classroom and one school, and involving a number of local sponsors,
organize a Discover"E" committee to plan your program.
Build partnerships with
local businesses, universities, and engineering societies to help foster community spirit
and increase your leverage. Many successful Discover"E" committees enlist the
advice of local educators.
Assemble an
"All-Star" team of CEOs, university presidents, high-level government officials,
and other prominent engineers to recruit volunteers and visit with students in or out of
the classroom.
Make a list of schools to
be contacted. If the list is long, divide it among several committee
members/organizations. A coordinated approach is very important. Make sure there is only
one group contacting any school.
Before contacting schools,
be sure you will be able to commit enough volunteers to meet demand. Keep in mind that one
engineer is probably not enough to cover one school. A teacher may want him/her to visit
with every earth sciences class, for instance, requiring a full day of one volunteer's
time for just one teacher.
How will you recruit
volunteers? Ask engineers to visit their own children's schools. Contact the local chamber
of commerce and engineering societies to ask for help.
Approach local
universities to involve faculty and engineering students. Each organization can assign a
coordinator responsible for recruiting a certain number of volunteers. Try to involve
engineers who reflect the diversity of your community.
Learn about the school(s)
you plan to approach. Are students there likely to be on the science and mathematics fast
track? Is there a large minority population? For tips on how to get started click here.
Next: Contacting Schools
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