Boys & Girls Club Offers Science Mentoring Program

The Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley has started the Immersion Mentoring Program, a new science-based mentoring program with 40 mentees and 10 mentors as a part of its partnership with Immersion Learning, a division of the Sea Research Foundation, Inc.. 

In January, the Club was announced as a sub-grantee of a $1 million grant awarded to Sea Research by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to establish the Immersion Mentoring Program within other Clubs in 11 states, including Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

The Immersion Mentoring Program is designed to positively impact the social development and academic achievement of underserved youth ages 9 – 13. As part of the program, trained coordinators and mentors connect with mentees in real world science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) activities and interactive technologies.

We are very excited to be able to run the Immersion program at our Clubhouse. Pairing the Immersion program with mentoring will really help our organization fulfill our mission and create important relationships for children in community,” said Jill DeWerdt, Program Director Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley.

Although Immersion is a successful program here at the club, the mentoring aspect will enhance not only the program, but the children’s knowledge and desire to learn more about the unexplored oceans.The club members have shown great enthusiasm thus far and I am excited to introduce this new mentoring component to them,” said Jennifer DeLeon, Immersion Director The Boys and Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley

Staff members from the Club attended a three-day, national implementation training in Mystic, Conn., with all sub-grantees on Jan. 17 – 20. 

At the training, attendees learned the expected project outcomes, which include: 

  • increased desire and likelihood to continue participation in the mentoring program;
  • strengthened positive relationships with adult mentors;
  • improvement on targeted social, academic, and/or behavioral goals;
  • decreased engagement in juvenile delinquency;
  • decreased school absence;
  • greater interest in academics, particularly in STEM areas; and
  • greater awareness of and interest in STEM-related careers.

Additionally, attendees learned from subject matter experts in mentoring and science, including Dr. Robert Ballard, best known for his discovery of the RMS Titanic, walked through the program’s curriculum and activities, received grant administration instruction and learned about key sustainability tools such as mentor recruitment.

The OJJDP Multi-State Mentoring Program was established to support the enhancement or expansion of initiatives that will assist in the development and maturity of community programs to provide mentoring services to high-risk populations that are under-served due to location, shortage of mentors, special physical or mental challenges of the targeted population, or other analogous situations identified by the community in need of mentoring services. 

The program is authorized by the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011, Pub. L. 112 – 110.

Immersion Learning, a division of Sea Research Foundation, Inc., was founded by Dr. Robert Ballard and Dr. Stephen Coan in 2002. 

The mission of Sea Research is to inspire people to care for and protect our ocean planet through education, research and exploration. Through live webcasts from scientific expeditions, hands-on activities, and an engaging website, Immersion brings ocean adventures and discoveries from Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium, the Institute for Exploration, the University of Rhode Island and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to more than 50,000 youth in classrooms, after-school settings such as Boys & Girls Clubs, and other formal and informal learning arenas each year. For more information, visit www.immersionlearning.org.

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