Student Community Engagement Center

Make a gift to the Student Community Engagement Center (SCEC) to help support PSU students serving as mentors for Alder Elementary School students in Portland's Rockwood neighborhood! Any funds not spent on this priority will provide general support for the Student Community Engagement Center and its programs.

The Essence of the MAPS Program: Beyond Mentorship
MAPS (Mentor Alder Portland State) program volunteers are more than just mentors to the students of Alder Elementary. From leading a hands-on after-school "Eco-Explorers" club, to planning an immersive kindergarten College Day visit to PSU, to facilitating interactions that inspire academic curiosity and ambition, our PSU student volunteers are dedicated to fostering an environment where every child can thrive

Your generosity can have a significant impact.
Contributions can help us:

• Tailor Educational Resources: Offer hands-on educational activities through our Eco-Explorers program in both Spanish and English, in order to make learning accessible to the majority bilingual student population at Alder Elementary.
• Create Hands-On STEM Pathways: Bridge the gap in access to STEM curriculum for the students at Alder Elementary by purchasing necessary technology and supplies for engaging experiments and other hands-on curriculum.
• Increase Mentor Engagement through Reducing Barriers: Ensure that student mentors can participate in the program by providing accessible transportation between Alder and PSU.
• Enhance College Day Activities: Expand Alder College Day, an on-campus event designed to introduce elementary students to college, by deepening our collaborations within the PSU community.

This past year, through support from donors like you, we have been able to expand our eco-explorers curriculum to offer bilingual activities with enough supplies that every kid has had a hands-on project to engage with each week. Additionally, donations allowed us to accept more students to the program who needed access to reliable transportation in order to participate.

*What your gift can provide:

• $25 covers one round of snacks to keep kids and mentors nourished
• $60 covers Zipcar transport for one round-trip carpool to get students out to Alder who couldn’t get there otherwise
• $100 covers supplies for one week of after-school experiments and garden activities
• $200 covers the cost of one new educational microscope (our goal is to have one per table)
• $1,000 covers the cost of a high-end microscope with projection capabilities

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