Opportunities From: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Industry site visits provide an opportunity for students to explore a particular industry worksite. These trips are typically connected to an area of study or set of standards that students are learning about, providing context and on the-ground knowledge of how that is applied within the workplace.

They also provide general information about the various kinds of jobs and careers that students can pursue in the future as well as experience what it feels like to be in a professional setting.

Visits are often lead by a representative of the company and provide an interactive way to engage students depending on their grade levels.

General Expectations

Share relevant information with our students and educators.

In the classroom, speakers are invited to campus to provide students with a closer look into how their learning connects to and is applied in the “real world.”

For our teachers, we enjoy guest speakers during professional development workshops and seminars, offering insight to solve education challenges or integrate new approaches in the classroom.

Guest speaker settings include:

Guest speaker general expectations

Opportunities with students generally focus on supporting classroom projects. Mentors provide technical or content-specific knowledge around certain tools or problem-solving approaches relevant to STEM.

Although preferably done in-person, virtual meetings with students can be facilitated to accommodate distance and time.

 In the past, students have benefitted from having a mentor throughout:

Critical feedback from industry professionals helps students see their work from various perspectives.

Judges are matched as closely as possible to their specific area of expertise.

As a rule, volunteer judges are provided project overviews, orientation information, and scoring rubrics to ensure fair evaluations.

Judging opportunities include:

Skype a scientist gives you the opportunity to connect with students around the world without having to leave your lab!

We match scientists with k-12 classrooms, and once matched, you will video chat into the classroom for a 30-60 minute session (you don’t have to use skype). The format is Q and A style so that the kids feel they’ve had direct contact with scientists. We want to put a friendly face to science and lower the intimidation factor that surrounds science for some students. There are many lectures available on youtube by scientists, so don’t feel like you have to prepare a lecture, just have a conversation!

We recommend that you give your teacher an overview of what you do. It’s super helpful if you have something the teacher can share with his/her students, e.g. youtube videos, a ted talk, or blog posts related to your work. If you don’t have any of those things, just a laymen overview of your work is okay too!  Students will prepare questions ahead of time so that they’re ready with conversation starters when the you call in.
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One of the awesome things about this program is that we can reach classrooms anywhere, especially areas of the country (and the world) where kids wouldn’t necessarily have access to science museums or naturally run into scientists in their every day life. You can sign up for as many or few classrooms as you think you’ll have time for this semester.

To sign up follow this link: https://www.skypeascientist.com/for-scientists.html

Cork’s Place offers a safe and nurturing environment where children, teens and families who have experienced a death can share experiences, support one another and find comfort as they move through the difficult process of emotional healing.

Volunteers are needed to facilitate these grief support groups for children ages 3 - 17. Support groups meet every other week during the school year and average 8 hours monthly.

The 30 hour training is designed to give volunteer facilitators the tools needed to work with children and teens as they move through their own healing process. Volunteers will learn effective, non-directive communication skills. After training, we ask for a 10 month commitment.

Characteristics of an effective group facilitator:

Teachable, passionate about helping children, nonjudgmental, tolerant of long silences and loud noises and are able to be physically active. Cork’s Place volunteer facilitators provide a supportive presence, while allowing the children to direct their own grief work.

Thursday night tutoring at the Family Learning Center (505 S. Olympia St. Apt B6, Kennewick, WA 99336) helping refugee students with math, English, cultural assimilation, and SAT prep.

The Communities in the Schools program works with elementary school students for dropout prevention.  Yes, that's right, the notion is to start early to make sure that students don't fall behind.  Because if they do fall behind early, it is hard to catch up later and can lead to frustration or inability to complete high school.  TBMMC is working with Communities in the Schools at Sacajawea Elementary to do math tutoring.  Volunteers are connected with a teacher and will set up a time during the school day  to work with students on math skills on a weekly basis.

JA helps students realize that the education they are getting today will help them to have a bright future tomorrow. JA's unique, volunteer delivered programs, show them all of the possibilities that lay before them. They realize they can choose different paths; College? A specific trade? Start their own business? Through your participation as an organization or as an individual, these statistics below can begin to change in your community:

Camerata Musica is inviting PNNL staff and family members to usher at concerts

Concert dates are listed at http://www.cameratamusica.com

To participate as an usher contact Judith.Bamberger@pnnl.gov the week of the concert

Lend a hand in your community. King County needs you. Volunteer!

We have hundreds of local outreach opportunities available for groups or individuals. Click hereThis link will take you away from uwkc.org to find an opportunity near you!

The Richland High School AVID program is looking for individuals who would be willing to facilitate small study groups of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors from 1-6 hours per week.  Training is available for the position.

Team Battelle Project Linus is always looking for volunteers or "blanketeers" to help provide new, handmade, washable blankest to be given as gifts to seriously ill and traumatized children, ages 0-18. All styles of blankest are welcome, including quilts, tied comforters, fleece blankets, crocheted or knitted afghans, and receiving blankets in child friendly colors. Below are some opportunities to  join the blanket making fun. For more information visit: http://www.projectlinus-tc.org/

The Richland Rod and Gun Club (RRGC) is seeking a Team Battelle volunteer that can assist with providing recommendations for resolving issues with live streaming video on YouTube.  Volunteer should have knowledge of encoding software and optimizing settings to provide a reliable live stream on YouTube.  The RRGC tries to provide live streaming video from inside wood duck nesting boxes for local area school students and the public at large. 

If you can help contact Dale Schielke RRGC Wood Duck Project chairman at 509-375-0183 or dahlialou@msn.com

Volunteer with Tri-Cities Prep High School 

Throughout the year, the Community Affairs and Protocol Office receives a number of Speakers Bureau requests for staff to go into the community to spread the word about the science, technology and the exciting new discoveries taking place right here at PNNL.

Speakers Bureau requests are submitted to our office by local, regional and national organizations. Requests are handled individually and are tailored to meet the needs of the requesting organization. Staff members volunteer their time and resources to develop their talks and speak to the requesting organization about the impact the Laboratory is making, locally and around the world.

If you are interested in being considered for future Speakers Bureau requests, click on "Respond" and submit your name and topics you are interested in presenting.

PNNL's Community Science and Technology Seminar Series was launched to help the public better understand and explore how science transforms our world. It is also a great opportunity to engage with the community to educate them on the world-class research and development taking place at the area's largest employer, and to reinforce our commitment to the community. Talks are non-technical and run about 45 minutes plus Q&A. While the format of the talks is a presentation style, we like seminars to be interactive, so any hands-on displays or examples you can bring are encouraged. These typically take place at the Mid-Columbia Library in Kennewick and the Richland Public Library.

Seminars run September through May and usually take place at the Richland Public Library or the Kennewick Branch of the Mid-Columbia Libraries. If you are interested in participating in the Community Science & Technology Seminar Series, we will work with you to ensure your talk is at the appropriate level for a non-technical audience and coordinate your speaking engagement with the libraries.

We are in the process of booking seminars for September 2019 - May 2020.

The Arc of Tri-Cities promotes the rights of all people with intellectual and developmental disabilities by actively supporting full inclusion and participation in all aspects of the community. The Arc of Tri-Cities' vision is to empower everyone with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) to make informed choices. Thereby they will become independent, productive people fully integrated in their communities and in the fabric of society. Through programs, services and supports, persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities will be viewed as people first to achieve their full human potential.

As a non-profit, volunteers are crucial to Service Pearce Warrior’s success. Some of the duties that one can participate in include but are not necessarily limited to:

-playing/socializing dogs and puppies that helps adapt them to many different people

-cleaning the facility (mopping, washing food bowls, windows etc.)

-bathing/grooming the dogs.

You can help inspire and grow our youth by teaching Scouts skills from your profession or hobby. Scouts advance in rank by earning Merit Badges. Registered counselors help Scouts through the Merit Badge. There are Merit Badges for everything from aviation to wilderness survival, from geology to chemistry, geocaching, biology, hiking, climbing, and on and on. This program offers an exciting opportunity for PNNL staff to match their interests and skills to merit badges, get registered as a counselor, and begin to serve Tri-City youth in Scouts BSA.

You can help youth on an ongoing basis through your efforts at the unit level which include their weekly meetings and monthly outings. You can also work at the District and Council levels to help deliver a quality program to the youth through summer camps, day camps, and the National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) program to name just a few. In our local Blue Mountain Council we serve over 4000 youth of which 94 earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 2018. The Scouting for Food program collected 14,000 pounds of food. Many other service hours were performed by scouts within units or for Eagle projects. Please come join with other PNNL staff to serve Tri-City youth in Scouts BSA.

The American Red Cross Northwest Region brings together local volunteers to care for their neighbors, trains hundreds of thousands of people each year in life-saving skills, and responds to a local disaster almost daily. With offices located throughout the state, we serve the people, businesses and communities of Washington and the Idaho Panhandle.

 The chapter mobilizes local volunteers and resources to help respond to disasters across the nation and around the world.

Last year, our region:

Camerata Musica, the only organization in the Tri-Cities that regularly schedules chamber music concerts. Camerata Musica programs feature chamber music concerts by solo musicians and small ensembles. Performers include local, national, and internationally known musicians.

Camerata does not sell tickets to its programs. Support is provided primarily by donations from individual patrons, with additional funding received from corporate sponsorship and grants from organizations like the Washington State Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts and Three Rivers Community Foundation.

Want to help with maintaining the Badger Mountain trails?  Badger Mountain has over 7 miles of trails that need some maintenance each year.  Think they look great?  It takes hundreds of hours each year to keep them that way.  The work can be from raking the gravel back on to the trail, removing weeds, or general tread repair. If you’re interested, please join our trail work list by emailing Trailmaster@friendsofbadger.org and mention “add me to your trail work list”.

The Richland Rod and Gun Club is committed to habitat enhancement for wildlife conservation and to educating youth in wildlife conservation and safe firearms handling. This is emphasized in the Club pledge - I give my pledge as an American to save and faithfully defend from waste the natural resources of my country; it air, soils and minerals; its forests, waters, and wildlife. I will help educate future generations to be responsible caretakers of the resources of America. Annually there are numerous opportunities for volunteers to assist in projects such as the Kids Fish-in Day, Hood Park Kids Fishing Event, Salmon in the Classroom, and the Wood Duck Nesting Box Project. Our main need is volunteer assistance to support the various efforts undertaken during the year.

We are a 501(c)3 non-profit makerspace next to Uptown that has been open since February 6th, 2016. We host events, offer classes, make tools available for use and provide spaces to work. The events and classes cover a variety of art, technology, and other topics. Many diverse members use our space, providing many opportunities for learning and collaboration.

Feel free to stop by any time during business hours to check out the space or see what we’ve been doing by looking at out our photo log. Please note the shop space is restricted to those 18 or older and classroom/event space is limited to those 8 and older (accompanied by an adult). Many events set their own age minimum so please check the appropriate event postings.

Team Battelle is assisting the Tapteal Greenway Association in protecting and revitalizing 100 acres of fragile urban wilderness in the Amon Basin. The property contains valuable wetlands and shrub-steppe habitat, is a crucial wildlife corridor, and offers connectivity with other open space. Volunteer activities include helping conduct technical studies, fundraising, cleaning-up the site, constructing and maintaining trails, and developing educational programs and materials. For more information on how you can get involved, see the Team Battelle, check out the Tapteal Greenway Association website or contact the project director.

Professionals with experience in computer science, materials science, drafting, design, architecture, graphics, multimedia arts, and engineering are needed to serve on Delta High's Career and Technical Education (CTE) Advisory Board.  The group meets four times per year, usually a Thursday from 3:15 to 4:30 pm, at Delta High School.  Teachers present state mandated plans for CTE classes and programs for review and input, professionals offer suggestions and advice, including important changes to industry standards that may indicate needed changes in curriculum.  Teachers also share the work they are doing with students.  Upcoming meeting dates for 2018-19 are:

Thursday, December 13 (3:15-4:30 pm)

Thursday, February 21 (3:15-4:30 pm)

Thursday, April 18 (3:15-4:30 pm)

The Delta High School is looking for STEM Professionals to share their profession and higher education experiences with 10th grade students.  This is an ongoing opportunity and career speakers are hosted throughout the year.  Respond with your interest here, and contact ">Heather Hoppe for scheduling and availability.