[ada1981]

The key to effective mentorship is 1) finding someone who has something that you want 2) helping them, for free, get something they want. As a result, you gain access to the mindset that has the thing you want.

Perhaps you could ask the kids who they really admire, or what products or things from their own lives are impacting them. I'll bet there are unknown engineers and scientists behind just about every single man made thing they come into contact with on a daily basis.

Reach out to those companies and see if they will put you in touch. Try the PR department possibly for the intro. This will give the kids a real connection to the people.

If these are products where the kid is the end user, the engineers might love to spend an hour a month on skype with them just to gain insight into their lives to make better products.

Some people might agree to help kids because they want to, and that is great, but you will 10x the value for BOTH the kid and the scientist if you find a way for them to really help each other (and it's massively possible).

I've mentored high school / college kids into pro athletes, wildly successful entrepreneurs, activists and non-profit leaders and it's always been rewarding.

Finally, the process of finding a mentor is a skill that most people lack -- what a great chance for you to involve them in finding their own mentors and letting them reach out, send emails, and otherwise discover the power of their own voice and agency.

Fun Fact: When I was in 5th grade back in the late 80s I had a secret pen pal / mentor I found in the back of 2600 Magazine who was in federal prison for hacking ;)

[zachlatta]

Great advice, except I'd change one thing: encourage the kids reach out, don't do it yourself.

And if they don't want to reach out, don't push them to. 5th graders are incredibly capable and should be given agency to make their own decisions.

[ada1981]

Yes, I agree and hoped to convey that.

Appreciate the reminder that it should be self-directed from the student and his role is to support that direction.

Very sudsval.

A

[doubleyou]

Fantastic response! Thank you! Some of the PR departments I have already contacted I pitched it as a possible marketing move, to use the mentorship somehow to make the company look altruistic, etc (they would be doing a great service, truly) but that was the only real benefit I could see for them. What else could we offer?

Contacting a company that has children as its user base is a great idea and I can see how that could be a useful exchange, beyond that it seems like I need to meet an individual who has a personal interest in helping kids.

Great points all around and I am taking them all to heart.

[meangreen]

In user research exercises, designer/engineers can find unique perspectives by observing children (who have a fresh set of eyes) interact with their device/product. Could perhaps pique the interests of professionals using this approach: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/videos/2100/Field-Observations-w...

[ada1981]

Yes, one of the most beneficial things we can all do it to spend time with kids, listen to what they talk about, care about, are worried about, are playing with. Their actions contain within them deep metaphors for the collective conscious. It's also just wonderful for them to be in the presence of adults who are in a state of non-judgement, exploration and curiosity about them -- it helps model for them a healthy relationship with their Self.

Smart creators of any type will be curious about what children are up to.

Various wisdom traditions have observed this as well.

From the Tibetans selecting a Dali Llama to Christ saying "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

One of my psychedelic mentors, perhaps it was Ann Shulgin, said that the state an adult enters on a psychedelic is the default state for the child... That the "return to the garden of eden" is to return to the pre-traumatic self without shame.

Spending time with kids is a great way to reconnect your Self with the possibility of possibility and the essenence of who you are.