The BranchOut! Blog

Last year, I participated in the Branchout program. I was able to meet people from unique cultural backgrounds and students with different learning needs. During my experience, I built strong relationships with my mentees. One of these mentees was a 21 year old student who had recently moved to America from Afganistan. Despite his social status, he was brilliant, constantly trying to learn how to read English and develop his linguistics. One day, we had a conversation about w

Delegate Kenneth R. Plum invited Dr. Sharon Wu to his show to talk about the Branch Out! Multicultural STEM Education program. This non-profit program attracted 65 students from 25 different schools this summer to help over 200+ charter school, FCPS, and homeless shelter students (our second year!). This program will be aired on Reston Comcast Channel 28 (Verizon Channel 1981) on Tuesday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m. and repeated on Wednesday, November 15 at 10:30 p.m. You can a

Starting on 11/14, current mentors or those interested in joining our program are welcome to come volunteer at the James Lee Community Center every Tuesday from 4-5 pm and receive 1 hour of community service. This volunteer opportunity is hosted by the McLean High School Computer Science Honor Society and volunteers will help elementary school kids with STEM related activities to help the kids develop an interest. Activities include, but are not limited to: origami, lego buil

Congratulations to the six mentors who were chosen to receive the Calvin J. Li Award for exceptional leadership ability! Mentors were chosen based on student nominations, self-reflection, and site managers’ feedback. The awards were presented in three levels with a monetary award. ​ One 1st place Award: Austin Zhang $200 ​ Two 2nd place Awards: Anshu Sharma and Daniel Shen $100 each ​ Three 3rd place Awards: Angela Wu, Christine Sun, and Ethan Liu $50 each Once again,

On Saturday, September 30 , 2017, 21 student mentors were nominated by their peers to receive the “U.S. House of Representatives Certificate of Congressional Recognition" signed by Congresswoman Barbara Comstock. Nominations were evaluated and approved by the MCSE committee based on their ability to mentor their students effectively. The mentors who received this award were: ​ Amanda Chu, 11th grade, Poolsville High School Andrew Wang, 12th grade, TJHSST Angela Wu, 11th g