Science in Service is a unique collaboration of Stanford students, science and engineering faculty, service-learning educators, and Peninsula community organizations. The program connects Stanford students to youth in our neighboring communities through science mentorship and after-school science clubs, providing students a unique opportunity to learn about and participate in science outreach.
Stanford participants receive training in key techniques for teaching science through mentorship. Trained students then serve as science mentors to children in after-school programs in East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Redwood City, with ongoing support from the Science in Service staff. There are opportunities for Stanford students who are new to science outreach as well as students who have previous teaching experience.
The Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula (BGCP) is the program's current community partner. Science in Service has partnered with BGCP since 2003. The children who attend the BGCP are from communities that are ethnically and economically diverse. Approximately 100 young people are mentored by Stanford’s Science in Service mentors for approximately 18 weeks between October and June. Our programs at the Boys & Girls Clubs are known as SuperStars!
Science in Service Mentors guide 2nd- through 12th-grade students through a hands-on science activity weekly. Once a week each mentor goes to a Boys & Girls Clubhouse with a group of 5 to 10 other Science in Service mentors, where each mentor works with 1 or 2 youth.
Science in Service was founded in partnership with the Stanford Solar Observatories Group with funds from NASA. The program seeks to partner with faculty and researchers, and currently is working with researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Plant Biology.
Kelly Beck, Director