PEKIN, Ill - In March, a virtual Teacher Tuesdays session will offer information about the Mentor Matching Engine. Developed by the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition (ISTC), the Mentor Matching Engine (MME) is an online collaboration tool that connects Illinois high school students and their teachers to external mentors across the globe. MME allows for long-term engagement with professionals and graduate students in the STEM and research field, providing students a line of sight into STEM careers. The platform prioritizes student safety by completing background checks for mentors and providing teachers oversight of the student-mentor relationship.
At the upcoming Teacher Tuesdays session, educators can discover how to use the Mentor Matching Engine to help their high school students create research projects while connecting them to professionals from all over the world. This Teacher Tuesdays session will include information from the ISTC senior manager about how your school can get involved. Plus, there will be an opportunity for attendees to discuss how they might incorporate more mentoring into their classrooms.
Teacher Tuesdays offers monthly networking and professional development opportunities through University of Illinois Extension serving Fulton, Mason, Peoria, and Tazewell counties in conjunction with community partners. These events allow both classroom and out-of-school time educators to foster peer-to-peer support while building a learning community around STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) education for our region.
The next session will take place on Mar 1, 2022 at 5 PM Those interested can register by Sunday, Feb 27, 2022 at go.illinois.edu/teachertuesdays. Invitations and connection information for this virtual event will be sent to registrants via email on the morning of Mar 1. Though all are welcome to participate in this Teacher Tuesday session, the Mentor Matching program is only available for high school students.
More information is available at extension.illinois.edu/fmpt/teacher-tuesdays.
For more information about 4-H, in addition to other youth and adult programs offered through Extension, visit our website at extension.illinois.edu/fmpt
About University of Illinois Extension: University of Illinois Extension is the flagship outreach effort of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, offering educational programs to residents of all of Illinois' 102 counties — and far beyond. Extension provides practical education you can trust to help people, businesses, and communities solve problems, develop skills, and build a better future. U of I Extension offers educational programs in five broad areas: energy and environmental stewardship, food safety and security, economic development and workforce preparedness, family health, financial security, and wellness, and youth development.
About 4-H: Illinois 4-H strives to help youth learn skills for living. University of Illinois Extension provides 4-H programs in every county in Illinois. Illinois 4-H aims to impact the lives of 200,000 youth each year through sustained learning clubs and groups and short-term programming.
Contact: Emily Schoenfelder – 4-H Youth Development Educator, Fulton-Mason-Peoria-Tazewell Unit, eschoe@illinois.edu, 309.347.6614