MSSV MISSION STATEMENT
Maine School Science Volunteers (MSSV) is dedicated to helping K-12 students gain greater understanding and appreciation of the scientific method and scientific principles. Our volunteer engineers, scientists, science educators, and mathematicians use their professional experience to support and enrich science education, in and out of the classroom. MSSV employs a variety of learning activities to stimulate and nurture student interest in science.
ABOUT MSSV
Maine School Science Volunteers (MSSV) is an organization of retired scientists, engineers, and medical doctors that work with local school districts to provide after-school science activities.
Their expertise in the physical and biological sciences, medicine, and mathematics provides invaluable insights to scientific material being presented in the activities. The volunteers perform demonstrations and hands-on experiments that are fun as well as instructive . As professionals, they also reinforce the notion that science can lead to rewarding careers .
The MSSV activity is based on science clubs that generally meet after school once a month for a couple of hours. Occasionally, the MSSV is asked to provide regular classroom instruction. These programs are sponsored by the school and require the participation of a regular faculty member or a district administrator. They generally offer a combination of basic theory along with hands-on activities and experiments. A number of science club presentations have been prepared and new ones are generated each year. A list of subjects is provided in the section of this web site titled “classroom modules”.
All materials are provided by MSSV without charge to the schools. Working arrangements are designed to fit the needs of the science teachers at each school. Generally, a schedule of topics for academic year is chosen to complement the regular classroom instruction.
The program has received financial support from several business organization and professional societies. The program originally received technical support from the founding organization at Northeastern University in Boston although we are now an independent Maine-based non-profit corporation.
MSSV is continually searching for additional volunteers. We need people with strong backgrounds in scientific, engineering, or medical areas and the ability to schedule a few hours a month during and after school hours.
