The Virginia Academy of Science is excited to once again offer its mentorship program for K-12 classrooms across Virginia to pair scientists with K-12 classes to perform long-term science projects.  Once again, we are looking to recruit both mentors (grad students, postdocs, instructors, scientists, etc.) and high school teachers who would like their students to participate in a virtually-driven long-term research project.  We have partnered with the Virginia Junior Academy of Science (www.vjas.org) in this endeavor in the hopes that this project will encourage participation in their 2023 Annual Research Symposium and give students the juried research experience necessary to earn the Virginia Department of Education’s new Seal for Excellence in Science and the Environment on their diploma.  Mentorships may be in-person, virtual, or hybrid, and we would like to offer middle and high school instructors the opportunity to either do a project of local interest or to participate in a “Citizen Science” type initiative in which their class will work with others across the Commonwealth and (sometimes) the nation in the collection and analysis of data.  I am excited for this model since it should allow a greater level of participation with geography and distance not being limiting factors. If you are interested in serving as a mentor in this project, please fill out the form found at:

https://secure4.hsc.edu/forms/view.php?id=117158

If you are a high school teacher with an interest in having a mentor work with your class, please fill out the form found at:

https://secure4.hsc.edu/forms/view.php?id=116443

Contact Michael Wolyniak at (mwolyniak@hsc.edu) with any questions you may have.