The grants were four of a total of sixty awarded statewide and are provided under the Academic Volunteer and Mentor Service Program. The academic component of the program is to assist students in literacy and reading comprehension. SIB's most recent undertaking is the implementation of an email-mentoring project. Through a partnership with several high-tech corporations, SIB is matching students with employees who connect with the students online. The mentors assist their students in becoming more familiar with communicating via email and conducting research on the Internet for classroom projects.
Students also increase their knowledge about technical careers and opportunities available.