University at Buffalo (UB)
Outreach Activities
The Outreach Committee, led by WiSE students, focuses on reaching out to K-12 students to promote STEM. Outreach activities include a variety of initiatives such as STEM shadow days at UB for high school women and bringing science demonstrations and career exploration resources to local schools.
WiSE STEM Outreach Program
A $50,000 grant from Amazon enables WiSE to extend its reach to high school students, helping to strengthen the pipeline for women to enter STEM fields.
The Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) STEM Outreach Program is a mentorship program specifically designed for female high school students interested in pursuing STEM degrees.
The program, launched in the Fall of 2022, is a partnership with five high schools located in the greater Buffalo, N.Y. area to build the mentorship program.
During this six-week program, University at Buffalo students who are involved in the WiSE program visit the high schools and share their personal journeys in STEM education with the students in a large group setting. Following this, each school identifies up to four students to further participate for the next four weeks in a mentoring program at the high school, with the UB WiSE students serving as the mentors.
At the end of the sessions, the mentees and high school staff visit UB for an all-day session that includes shadowing their mentors, a campus tour and lab visits, as well as other opportunities to connect with members of the UB community. They will return to campus six months later for a follow-up info session focused on STEM fields and choosing a STEM program in college.
The program is funded by Amazon. Teachers and high school administrators who want to participate in the program should contact Laney Wieclaw, WiSE STEM Outreach Program Graduate Assistant, via email or by phone at (716) 645-3519.
For more details, read the news story.