What is Mind Bubble Scholars?
Mind Bubble Scholars (MBS) promotes students’ ability to determine and achieve their post-high school goals through individualized tutoring and mentorship with caring adults in their community. Scholars within the MBS program will have access to high-quality individualized tutoring to help them succeed academically, regular mentorship to help them discern the path they want to take after high school graduation, and volunteer opportunities to help them give back to their community. Our MBS pilot program will launch in the fall semester of 2022.
What is expected of scholars, and who’s eligible?
The scholars in our MBS program will meet with a mentor who will be paired with them for the entire academic year for biweekly two-hour tutoring sessions. These sessions will take place either in-person, at one of Mind Bubble’s tutoring sessions, or virtually at a time arranged by the scholar and their mentor. At these tutoring sessions, mentors and scholars will also discuss short one-page documents on topics like time management, college applications, standardized testing, and taking a gap year to help scholars figure out what they want to do after graduating high school and successfully achieve those goals.
Scholars in the MBS program will also volunteer as tutors with Mind Bubble every other week, working with some of Mind Bubble’s younger learners. These volunteer opportunities give scholars both the chance to give back to their community and volunteer hours that may help them meet requirements for high school graduation or college applications. These volunteer opportunities will take place on weeks where the scholar is not required to meet with their mentor, meaning that MBS will require a 2-hour weekly commitment from its scholars while the program is in session.
All high school juniors are eligible to apply for our MBS program, but students who have been part of the Mind Bubble community in the past, who live in DeKalb County, and who can demonstrate need will be given preference for the limited spots in the MBS program.
What is expected of mentors, and who’s eligible?
MBS mentors are volunteers with the knowledge, skills, and temperament to work successfully with juniors and seniors in high school over the course of a full academic year. They are expected to assist students at biweekly tutoring sessions, which will take place either in-person, at one of Mind Bubble’s tutoring sessions, or virtually at a time arranged by the scholar and their mentor. In addition to providing academic assistance, mentors will also discuss short one-page documents on topics related to post-secondary opportunities like college applications and gap years with their scholars.
On weeks when mentors and scholars are not meeting for 2 hours, all mentors will have a 1-hour check-in meeting with the program administrator to discuss their work with their scholar as well as upcoming mentorship topics. On these weeks, mentors are also expected to offer an optional 1-hour virtual “office hour” for scholars in the program, who can meet with them during this time if they are interested. In all, mentors are expected to commit 2 hours each week when the program is in session.
Anyone with a GED or equivalent is eligible to apply to serve as a mentor with the MBS program, but preference will be given to volunteers with a demonstrated success record as a Mind Bubble tutor and those with experience mentoring or tutoring in advanced topics.
How to apply:
Students interested in applying to the MBS program as scholars should send a copy of their school transcript and a brief letter answering the question “Why do you want to be a Mind Bubble Scholar?” to admin@mindbubble.org by August 1st, 2022. We will interview scholar candidates in August and make our decision about acceptance into the MBS program by August 31st, 2022. We anticipate having only 1-2 spots for scholars in our MBS pilot program for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Volunteers interested in applying to the MBS program as mentors should send their resume or CV and a brief letter answering the question “Why do you want to be a mentor in the MBS program?” to admin@mindbubble.org by August 1st, 2022. We will interview mentor candidates in August and determine the volunteers who will serve as mentors in our MBS program by August 31st, 2022. We anticipate having only 3-4 spots for mentors in our MBS pilot program for the 2022-2023 academic year.
How can I help?
Mind Bubble is currently running a fundraising campaign to support our MBS pilot program. You can help our scholars and mentors by making a donation of any size here. Thank you!
Questions?
If you have any remaining questions about the MBS program or its application timeline, please reach out to program administrator Dr. Dan Peterson at dan@mindbubble.org.