Working with K-14 Students
in Math and Science

Tutoring in the Santa Fe Public Schools
Tutoring at Santa Fe Community College
Useful Guides to K-12 Math & Science Teaching
Other Tutoring Activities in the Santa Fe Area

Almost all of us fondly remember those people who "made a difference" in our educational upbringing. A special teacher, a concerned counsellor, a buddy, a loving parent -- those people who explained difficult material, who revealed the beauty and value of learning, who provided a role model, or simply stuck with us in tough times. Tutors and mentors can, and often do, enrich the lives of young people. Sometimes they even turn lives around.

The Alliance is looking for people who are interested in tutoring or mentoring students in Santa Fe in math or science. As a tutor or mentor you can:

• Meet one-on-one with a student, or one-with-a-few, in the tutoring programs at Santa Fe or Capital High Schools or at Santa Fe Community College (SFCC); ;


• Meet one-on-one with a student, or one-with-a-few, as a mentor on a longer-term, regular basis;


• Give a presentation or demonstration to a class, or help in a course lab;


• Teach a semester-long math or science class;


• Work with students on a science fair or term project;


• Advise students about college and/or career choices;


• Take students on a field trip;


• Other possibilities ...

SFAFS volunteers have decades of experience in a wide variety of subject areas. These volunteers are available for tutoring and mentoring activities, science fair preparation and judging, and to provide classroom discussions and demonstrations on many subject areas in math and science. They have done so at many schools in the Santa Fe area.

To join the SFAFS tutoring-mentoring effort please contact us. During the 2010-11 academic year, SFAFS volunteers contributed over 1000 hours to the program. Over 850 student visits were logged during those hours.
If you'd like to participate in one or more of these activities, please contact us.

For a useful introduction to SFPS, and how its volunteer program works, please read Volunteering in Santa Fe Public Schools.

By SFPS and SFAFS policy, tutoring and mentoring arrangements involving non-state-certified personnel require a background check and participation in an orientation for volunteers before the activity can begin. Once the activity has started, a teacher from the SFPS staff must be present at all times when students are present.

The background check consists of having your fingerprints made at the Department of Public Safety (4491 Cerrillos Rd.), and then submitting the print cards to the Volunteer Coordinator's Office of SFPS (in the SFPS Administration Building, 610 Alta Vista St.). Your fingerprints are then compared to those on file at a national fingerprint database. In addition, several other forms (please see below) must be completed.

If you are an Alliance volunteer and wish to be a tutor, then please do the following:

1. Contact us to tell us of your interest. Include your mailing address and phone number.
2. We will send you the fingerprint cards and directions for filling them out, $7 in cash, and a stamped return envelope.
3. Go to the Volunteer Opportunities Page on the SFPS website. Download and complete the forms listed in the rightmost column.
4. Go have your prints made at the Department of Public Safety and mail the cards and the forms back to us in the return envelope. You'be charged the $7.
5. SFAFS will deliver the cards to the Volunteer Coordinator's Office and pay the $25 fee.
6. You'll hear in about 2 weeks.

SFAFS volunteer tutors are offered a $15/(student contact hour) honorarium. If you are interested in receiving it, let us know that too. Your decision either way is kept completely confidential. If you do elect to accept the honorarium, we'll also need your Social Security Number (the money must be reported to the IRS as income). Please DON'T send your SSN via email unless you spell out all the numbers as words.

The orientation for volunteers process has three parts: (1) becoming well acquainted with the three documents listed above; (2) attending an introductory orientation meeting convened by SFPS and SFAFS; and (3) consulting the "Useful Guides to K-12 Math and Science Education for Engineers and Scientists" available below.

The Santa Fe Community College maintains a very active tutoring program to which SFAFS volunteers contribute. If you are interested in participating, please call the Santa Fe Community College Tutoring Center (505-428-1834), or SFCC tutoring coordinator Chris Black (505-428-1770), or contact us and we'll help set things up.

1. Sandia Scientists Enhancing K-12 Education: How We've Done It and What We've Learned (1.4 MB)


2. Preparing and Presenting Effective K-12 Science & Math Education Activities (2.4 MB)


3. Science Education in our Elementary and Secondary Schools: A Guide for Technical Professionals Who Want to Help
   • Introduction: How To Use This Guide (0.75 MB)
   • Science Education: Things You Need to Know Before Getting Involved (4.9 MB)
   • Working Effectively With Students (5.1 MB)
   • Working Effectively With Teachers (2.6 MB)
   • Conducting a Tour of Your Worksite (1.1 MB)
   • Sources of Hands-On K-12 Science & Math Activity Ideas (3.3 MB)

The Retired Scientists, Engineers & Technicians (ReSET, Washington, DC) organization has also produced a very useful booklet for volunteers.

1. ReSET Volunteer Handbook, Part 1 (1.8 MB)
2. ReSET Volunteer Handbook, Part 2 (1.9 MB)

• Big Sky Learning (Tutoring and enrichment in math and science)
• Mentoring New Mexico (An across-the-board mentoring program; 505-988-1611)
• Monte del Sol Charter School Mentoring Program
• Science Education Solutions (Los Alamos)