TPP Announces Volunteer Needs

Several volunteer needs and opportunities are coming up all over St. Mary’s County, and The Patuxent Partnership is connecting volunteers with organizations that need them.

Science Fair Needs Sponsors, Volunteers

Sponsors are needed to support the St. Mary’s County Science and Engineering Fair which will be held Jan. 20 and 21 at Great Mills High School. The fair is completely funded by donations from local businesses and organizations.

The money raised from local groups provides awards, plaques, and certificates, plus it covers costs for students to participate in regional- and national-level science fairs.

There are several ways to help out. Organizations and businesses can sponsor awards and scholarships, take advantage of the advertising opportunities, or individuals can volunteer as board members, judges, or project mentors. The deadline for signing up for any of these activities in order to be featured in the science fair program is Jan. 6, 2017.

More information can be found on the 2016/2017 sponsorship letter and form available here.

Here are descriptions of the types of volunteers needed for the science fair: 

• Special awards judges are provided by organizations that sponsor special awards. These awards are designated by the organization and often judged by personnel from the organization. In some cases, organizations provide the science and engineering fair board with criteria and the board judges for the organization. Communicate your criteria if this is how you would like to provide awards. 
• Category judges are obtained from various organizations in the area and work with a team to judge projects within a specific category at the fair. These judges will be contacted prior to the fair.   
• Volunteers work with the science fair in a variety of capacities to organize the science and engineering fair and to perform the many functions required on the day of the fair.  The science fair board is an all-volunteer board and is always looking for assistance.   
• Mentors work with students to assist them by answering questions and providing guidance as needed. There are a wide variety of options for mentors. Fair organizers will work with mentors to pair them with students who are interested in working in the mentor’s area of expertise as much as possible.

STEM-ING for Girls

First, STEM-ING, short for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Inspiring the Next Generation, is planning workshops for middle school-age girls. The organization is looking for workshop ideas and volunteers to help execute them. Proposals for workshops should be submitted no later than 5 pm Monday, Jan. 9, 2017. Send them by email to [email protected]. To learn more about STEM-ING, please visit their website.

Volunteers Needed at CSM Robotics Events

College of Southern Maryland hosts various robotics tournaments during the school year, and volunteers are always needed at these events. Volunteers help with a variety of tasks, from set up to direction and traffic flow on the day of the competitions. Volunteers help que up teams, attend and assemble the challenge field, keep score, and referee events, to name a few of their duties at an average competition.

When the tournaments are over, volunteers help with the cleanup effort.

Events are scheduled in January, February, and April.

For information on how you can volunteer to help CSM with robotics tournaments, click here.

About The Patuxent Partnership

The Patuxent Partnership works with government, industry, and academia on initiatives in science and technology, hosts programs of interest to NAVAIR and the broader DoD community, and supports workforce development including education initiatives and professional development. Call 301-866-1739.

To learn more about The Patuxent Partnership and its programs, visit its Leader member page.