Mentoring: “Giving Back” to the Future Workforce

From its founding of Science Pioneers in the 1950s to the present, MRIGlobal’s commitment to future generations of researchers remains strong.  

MRIGlobal’s partnership with Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts, a neighborhood public school for grades 7-12, offers students mentoring opportunities with MRIGlobal researchers. Over the last eight years, dozens of MRIGlobal employees have spent afternoons tutoring students in math and physics. After school, MRIGlobal staff coach the FIRST robotics team, too.

In return for volunteering, MRIGlobal matches one hour of pay for each hour donated by staff. Over time, the non-profit MRIGlobal has invested an estimated $300,000 in the program.  

To further spur student interest in science and technology, recently, MRIGlobal underwrote a performance by ArcAttack for the entire student body. ArcAttack is a nationally acclaimed team that uses an electrified Tesla Coil as the centerpiece of a musical performance. Read the Press Release. Read MRIGlobal CEO’s editorial.

After the performance a school administrator reported, “The robotics team is more excited than ever, because they already know what it takes to build a robot like ArcAttack uses. And now, the rest of the student body wants to learn more about it, too.”

MRIGlobal also underwrites an arts scholarship program for a summer program at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Giving back has its rewards: All of the seniors from the 2011 robotics team are attending college.