The following is the text of a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(NEW LONDON, Conn.) — Now in its third year, the Mentor and Leadership Academy Program is set to provide prospective Coast Guard Academy cadets and students from Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School in New London with mentorship in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields during a six-week summer program.
Eight college students from Minority Serving Institutions will receive an intensive two-week classroom education and training on behavior styles, leadership and mentoring at the Coast Guard Academy. The students, known as Engineering Command Mentors, will then spend the remainder of their program training others in engineering activities. They will lead competitions in which both middle school students from Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, as well as high school students participating in the Academy Introduction Program, use their science, math and engineering skills to build a radio-controlled floating robotic craft. The mentors will also work with Camp Rotary at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School during a series of visits in which the mentors will help the middle school students build bottle rockets and provide important leadership and mentorship to the students. The bottle rocket training will take place 9-11:30 a.m. July 22 and 29 at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, and the robotics training will take place 9-11 a.m. July 25 at the Coast Guard Academy’s Leamy Ballroom. The Engineering Command Mentors will provide mentorship to the students at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School 9-10:30 a.m. July 18.
The Mentor Academy was developed through the Coast Guard Academy’s Engineering Department, Leadership Development Center and the Office of Inclusion and Diversity. The mission of the Mentor Academy is to foster the next generation of the Nation’s scientists and engineers by inspiring diverse students to continue their pursuit of higher education in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.
