STEM Corps is a community of students from ALL majors
We are still accepting interest forms for Fall 2024.
Interested? Let us know by submitting this form.
Who are we? STEM Corps is a community of JMU students from all majors who have an interest in making quality STEM education accessible to K-12 students in our community with a focus on engaging and impacting children of historically under-served communities surrounding JMU. STEM Corps is student-led under the direction of STEM Center director, Dr. Kerry Cresawn. There is no membership cost or other fees. The STEM Corps framework is designed to provide opportunities for students to develop the types of of leadership, collaboration, and communication skills that stand out to future employers and graduate programs. See Dr. Cresawn's LinkedIn posts about STEM Corps members for deeper insight into how we do this.
What do we do? STEM Corps primarily supports the STEM Center's partnership with Boys & Girls Club of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. We do this by working with a group of 90 local K-5 children throughout the year in a structured but fun learning environment. You can learn more about this partnership and what this looks like for STEM Corps members here. The information below about time commitment and "all majors" is specific to volunteering with this partnership.
What is the time commitment? That is up to you. After learning more about the opportunities and specific dates of our outreach programming, you tell us which dates work for you. This means you will know your outreach assignments at the start of the semester. For example, in our Boys & Girls Club partnership, STEM Corps members work in groups to teach one-hour STEM lessons on four Friday afternoons in the Fall and six Friday afternoons in the Spring. Some members sign-up and show-up for all 10. Some sign-up for 7 but have to back out of two due to illness or other circumstances. Some students commit to all 4 in the Fall but have to back down to 1 in the Spring due to a heavy course load.
STEM Corps members do not need a strong background in the STEM subject areas or integration practices, just a willingness to learn from the preparation we provide. That preparation is limited to a 20-minute video we create for each lesson and thorough review of the lesson guide.
Why do we welcome all majors? STEM Corps is a diverse group of JMU students with different interests and career pursuits which often comes with different backgrounds and perspectives. This allows us to demonstrate critical components of STEM as a profession and as a learning opportunity:
- How big problems are solved in the real world through STEM, which is through collaboration of people with a wide range of expertise and interests.
- "Everyone is a science (or engineering, or math, etc.) person."
Other STEM outreach opportunities- If you're more comfortable with middle and high school students, we have a variety of opportunities. These take place on-campus and are primarily one-time events. STEM Corps members who volunteers in these programs assist STEM professors with their outreach program while serving as an ambassador for the JMU STEM program or area of study that you represent.
