SRC – ECS Mentoring Program
The SRC-ECS Mentoring Program places Syracuse University engineering students into
Syracuse City School District (SCSD) schools to serve as mentors and tutors. Since the spring of
2006, Syracuse Research Corporation (SRC) has funded the program in collaboration with Mary
Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service (CPCS), and L.C. Smith College of
Engineering & Computer Science (ECS).
The mentoring program started with Blodgett Middle School students (6th-8th graders),
and expanded to Danforth Middle School in the fall of 2008. The purpose of each activity is to
increase student interest in the science and technology fields, as well as to promote healthy
relationships with adult role models. During the sessions, ECS students serve as role models,
leaders, and friends to the students while also facilitating hands-on science activities. Each
session is built around investigating an engineering or science topic, such as structures with pasta
towers, buoyancy with aluminum boats, and environmental with oil spill filters. In the future,
lessons will explore environmental and energy issues to introduce real world problems.
The mission of the SRC Mentoring Program is to spark a lasting passion in science and
technology early in the lives of the students, the ultimate effect being a desire to pursue those
interests into high school and beyond to collegiate studies.
