"Demystifying STEM through pen-pal relationships"

Letters to a Pre-Scientist (LPS) aims to humanize STEM professionals, demystify science career paths, and inspire students’ curiosity to explore a future in STEM. To achieve this, LPS pairs fifth-tenth grade students (“pre-scientists”) in low-income US communities with STEM professionals from around the world for a year-long, pen-pal relationship facilitated during science class. Through a highly personalized matching process, the students learn about different science careers and higher education pathways from an individual STEM professional who shares similar hobbies, interests, and/or life experiences. LPS opts for this “snail-mail” approach in order to maximize the program's accessibility for all students, reaching those that are not traditionally targeted by STEM extracurriculars. In this Conversions in Equity and Inclusion, I will introduce the program and its unique approach to cultivating meaningful relationships between scientists and students who have limited access to traditional outreach efforts.