The mentor enters constructive comments which are automatically returned, either to the student or teacher. For example, in Concord, New Hampshire, lawyers in a local law firm mentor 6th grade students in writing. At ALL School in Worcester, Massachusetts, employees of the Fleet Bank are mentoring middle and high school students in a business apprenticeship program. The National Schools Network Testbed project creates mentoring relationships between a team of 4-5 students and a community mentor who has expertise and interest in a selected project. Trained mentors and students must commit to communicating for at least two hours each week via e-mail for at least one semester.
Mentors become involved with a school as a partner in designing meaningful curricular activities.
Students have opportunities to explore a world of available resources and model skills used in professional settings to respond to actual problems faced by businesses and communities. For example, a retired postal worker served as a mentor who worked with her team to determine the most time-efficient post office networks serving populations of over 50,000 in a ten state area. In order to encourage students to pursue and remain in SEM professions, mentors describe their own personal experiences, challenge students with new ideas and opportunities, advise students on course work, provide new academic, business or personal contacts, and discuss student problems, offering potential solutions. Trained mentors will serve as advisors to the teacher and students as they proceed through a structured curriculum on meteorology. Teachers and mentors begin communicating on science and career-related topics of mutual interest via desktop videoconferencing.