The Jacksonville Joe Berg Seminars Mentorship Program
The original design of the Joe Berg Foundation called for the student members to attend periodic seminars given by professional scientists from their community, like our program, but the students also received help from those scientists with their science research projects. The assistance might have simply been advice given before or after the seminars. But it sometimes went beyond this, with students gaining access to equipment in industrial or academic research laboratories that they would never have had in their high school. Some of these collaborations even resulted in published papers! For example, at Niles Township High School, where the Joe Berg Seminars concept began, 15-year-old Ed Pollock teamed up with his mentor, a biologist at G.D. Searle, to do research that was published in The Anatomical Record in 1957 (12).
We are not planning to institute that aspect of the program here in Jacksonville. But we are now encouraging speakers to consider mentoring interested Scholars, and we are encouraging interested Scholars to ask speakers if they are willing to mentor them. The nature of the mentorship is up to the mentor. It could range from the speaker merely allowing the Scholar to shadow them as they go about doing their work to allowing the Scholar to be actively involved in the work. The idea is to give our Scholars a taste of what it is like to work in the speaker’s creative field, and to give the speaker an extra pair of hands – and an extra brain – to help with their work. The Scholars are among the brightest students at their schools and would likely contribute to the speaker’s work in a positive way.
Due to the mismatch between the number of Scholars at any given time (about 180) and the number
of speakers (30 or less per year), and the varying degree of interest speakers show in this, this is not a requirement. But it is strongly encouraged, and could be a rewarding and unusual experience for both Scholar and speaker. It will be interesting to see how this aspect develops as time goes on.
We are not planning to institute that aspect of the program here in Jacksonville. But we are now encouraging speakers to consider mentoring interested Scholars, and we are encouraging interested Scholars to ask speakers if they are willing to mentor them. The nature of the mentorship is up to the mentor. It could range from the speaker merely allowing the Scholar to shadow them as they go about doing their work to allowing the Scholar to be actively involved in the work. The idea is to give our Scholars a taste of what it is like to work in the speaker’s creative field, and to give the speaker an extra pair of hands – and an extra brain – to help with their work. The Scholars are among the brightest students at their schools and would likely contribute to the speaker’s work in a positive way.
Due to the mismatch between the number of Scholars at any given time (about 180) and the number
of speakers (30 or less per year), and the varying degree of interest speakers show in this, this is not a requirement. But it is strongly encouraged, and could be a rewarding and unusual experience for both Scholar and speaker. It will be interesting to see how this aspect develops as time goes on.
12. As an example, Ed Pollock was a 15-year-old Niles Township high school student when he teamed up with Dr Richard Edgren, a biologist at G.D. Searle, to do the research published in Pollock, Edward J., and Richard A. Edgren. “Effects of Stathmokinetic Agents on Planarian Reconstitution.” The Anatomical Record 128, no. 3 (1957): 601.
- The Joe Berg Seminars Vision for the Future Home
- The Challenges
- Meeting the Challenges
- Brief History of The Joe Berg Seminars Concept
- About The Joe Berg Seminars Program
- The Joe Berg Seminars Mentorship Program
- Joe Berg Middle School Clubs
- Dissemination of The Joe Berg Seminars Concept Beyond the Local Area