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Public Service Center
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MIT Public Service Center
77 Massachusetts Avenue
W20-547
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 253-0742
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Schedule
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year-round
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MIT's Public Service Center provides the opportunity for community involvement through volunteer placements, fellowships, and service programs. We also advise individuals
and groups about initiating and developing community service events and programs. Students gain first-hand experience coordinating and participating in programs and events that strengthen the ties between MIT and the community.
The Public Service Center also creates and supports new service initiatives, collaborates with other organizations at MIT that provide community service, and functions as an information resource for community-campus connections.
City Days
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Public Service Center
MIT, Room W20-547
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 253-0742
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Cost
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none
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Schedule
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September
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MIT's Public Service Center sponsors a one-day event during MIT's Orientation called City Days. The main focus of the event is to introduce MIT students (particularly
first-year students) to the greater Cambridge and Boston community.
In past years, MIT has welcomed over 500 Cambridge youths, grades four through six, to campus to participate in activities with undergraduates, including games, competitions,
hands-on learning, and campus treasure hunts. In other years, MIT undergraduates went into the community to participate in service projects with different agencies, such
as parks clean-up, playing with children in day-care centers, and serving food in soup kitchens.
Keys to Empowering Youth (KEYs)
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Public Service Center
MIT, Room W20-547
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 253-0742
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Cost
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$15 refundable
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Schedule
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year-round
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Grade Level(s)
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middle school
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KEYs brings 11- to 13-year-old girls together with MIT student mentors for one- and three-day workshops throughout the year. Workshops focus on women in science and technology, and issues such as empowerment, awareness, and problem-solving. Through
participation in hands-on activities and interaction with supportive role models, girls discover the opportunities afforded by nontraditional career paths.
LINKS
| Contact |
Public Service Center
MIT, Room W20-547
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 253-0742
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Cost
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none
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LINKS is an ongoing, cooperative effort that matches MIT students with Cambridge public school science teachers to enrich the science education in Cambridge schools. LINKS volunteers typically work one to three hours per week. Volunteers have the option of choosing the grades they want to work with and what tasks they want to do, ranging from helping out in the classroom, to tutoring, to teaching a unit of science. In addition to assisting science resource teachers and other faculty in one-on-one and small-group learning and experimental projects, LINKS volunteers support science discovery clubs and science fairs at each school.
MIT/Cambridge Science Expo
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Public Service Center
MIT, Room W20-547
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 253-0742
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Cost
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none
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Schedule
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spring semester
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Grade Level(s)
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middle school
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Each spring, over 250 seventh- and eighth-graders representing 14 Cambridge schools converge at MIT for the annual MIT/Cambridge Science Expo showcasing student science projects. These students, including winners from their own school science fairs and members of after-school science clubs, exhibit and explain their projects to MIT student volunteer "science advisors." Each group of students is paired with one or two MIT students who take them on tours of different labs around the Institute.
Public Service Center Fellowships
| Contact |
Public Service Center
MIT, Room W20-547
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 253-0742
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Cost
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none
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Schedule
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January, spring, summer
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MIT students are awarded competitive, paid fellowships from the Public Service Center to work with public schools and service agencies. In January, during MIT's Independent
Activities Period, PSC fellows work with local public school classrooms to assist with science instruction and work on special projects. A new "Vector Fellowship" program provides fellowships for MIT students to offer teaching support at a public school in their hometown during winter break. During the spring, fellowships to continue selected projects are offered. PSC Summer Fellowships partner students with local community agencies. Past partnerships have included the Patriot's Trail Girl Scouts and the Jamaica Plain Arts Council.
ReachOut! Teach a Child to Read
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Public Service Center
MIT, Room W20-547
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 253-0742
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Cost
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none
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Schedule
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fall, spring semesters
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Grade Level(s)
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K–8
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MIT students serve as literacy tutors in local after-school programs. ReachOut is part of the America Reads Challenge, a federal initiative that matches college student tutors
with young children who are struggling with reading and writing skills.
Through MIT's Federal Work-Study program, eligible students are paid for their tutoring hours. Tutors meet with the same child twice each week for one semester. MIT trains and
matches students with children who have been identified as needing additional literacy support by their teacher or after-school coordinator.
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