Enterprise Mentor Q&A

How does this all work, and what kind of a time commitment is it?
Rural Maine students in grades 3-6 have been doing research and writing about their aspirations since 2006. Perhaps they earned a $100 Future of Maine Aspirations Scholarship, based on their effort on the application and in school. In 6th grade and beyond, up until 12th grade, they now have the opportunity to research and explore their aspirations further. We recognize that those aspirations may change. That isn't a problem.

If they are a previous Future of Maine Aspirations Scholarship recipient and are interested in completing six Enterprise Projects over the next 2 to 6 years, they send me an email explaining their aspirations. This might come from a prior Future of Maine Aspirations Scholarship essay they have written. I share this email with the team of professional mentors in the particular career of interest. That team discusses the email remotely and one member of that team agrees to communicate with this student applicant and to guide the student successfully through the process. Two goals of all of this are to help expand the horizon of a rural Maine student, and to help them make connections to a bigger world. This is not to discourage them from pursuing local opportunities, but I do think we owe them the big picture.

An applicant can earn $250 or $500 after successful completion of each of the first five projects and $2,500 for successful completion of all six projects. All members of each Enterprise Mentor team will judge the quality of the projects and whether they qualify for a scholarship. The individual mentor helping that student will help the student successfully present their work to their whole Enterprise Mentor team.

How much time? You will swap some emails with that student. The student will be exploring opportunities in that career. You can share your advice. At one point, the student needs to explore the future of that career. You could join them in wondering about what the career will look like 20 years from now. The sixth project is an “Enterprise Project,” an internship, or just a hands-on project they design and complete. You will offer them guidance along the way. You might support the student for one year, or you may decide you want to continue to support this student for two years, or for as many as six years, and hopefully you will develop a relationship with this student that will last beyond that. They can complete one project per year over six years, or as many as three projects over two years.

Who will be on these Enterprise Mentor Teams?
I am inviting professionals I know, including many who have been supportive of Maine College Circle over the years, but I hope each Mentor Team will consider adding others. At least, it is very likely that you will be connecting the student applicant with other professionals you know.

How many students are likely to be involved?
I am not new at this. From years of experience, I would guess that we will have a small and very manageable number initially, and it may grow from there. Students have the opportunity to earn $5000. You might think that that would attract a large crowd. My experience says that it will not. It would attract a large crowd from more affluent communities, but a smaller crowd from more rural communities that struggle with their aspirations. That is why we do this. There will be about 1800 rural Maine students that will be in grades 6 - 12 and eligible to participate. I would expect to get a small fraction of that number, perhaps one to four for each Enterprise Mentor Team.


Example:
A boy wants to be a soldier, special ops, quite likely. He has seen it on TV or in a video game. . Project 1 is all about the career and the skills and traits needed to succeed in the military. You can share your advice. Project 2 is a detour, and asks them to explore another career, not of their choosing, and think about why that career may or may not be good for them. It is focused on their values beyond just wanting to be Cooper Flagg. Project 3 asks them to wonder about what the military will look like 10 - 20 years from now. Project 4 asks them to take a detailed look at the educational pathway they should take from where they are today to a successful career in the military. Project 5 is to develop a plan for their final project. Project 6 is the final project. In this case, it might include visiting a military base and interviewing professionals. Or, it might include research into drones. Or, maybe they would build a drone.

Example:
A girl wants to be a hairstylist. She wants to open her own business. She might work with the Business Enterprise Team to explore how she could take her interest in hairstyling and turn it into a successful business in her community.

Example:
A girl wants to be a teacher. She would do a lot of research about what community members think are the traits of a really good teacher. She would wonder how teaching might change in 10 to 20 years. And, she would teach one or several lessons in her school and reflect on how it went – what worked well and what didn't work well and what she would do differently next time. Members of the Teaching Enterprise Team could help her process all this.

Is there a financial commitment that I need to make?

No. But, eventually, I'd like to see each Enterprise Mentor Team have a fund that they can use to support the students they are working with, and that team will decide how the money should be dispersed. We have some of that funding in place already.

More information is here.