The COVID19 pandemic has affected communities around the world, including our community in the Virginia-Maryland area. Instead of passively waiting for an answer no one has the answer to, BranchOut! has decided to act proactively and continue to make this summer meaningful for everyone. 

 

We have made some changes to our summer program. We are now offering three new options, which will be described below, while not ruling out the possibility of online tutoring.

 

1. Career Panel: Students with similar interests will gather together to plan a career panel for fellow students and adults. They will invite professionals in a field of their choice to discuss career paths, goals, and the future of their professions. We hope to share this to fellow students, mentors, and adults

2. Community Role Models: To promote the importance of celebrating other people’s success, students will write weekly, short articles about the unsung heroes of our society. They will interview them virtually and write a story about their success and future goals. We hope to share these stories on our social media platforms and on our website.

3. Research Paper: Students will join together to create a research paper related to race, culture, and society. The end product would be a professional research paper that we hope to share with others.

 

Additionally, our online tutoring program remains open for those interested. Our Innovator Team also remains open. If you have already submitted an application to the summer BranchOut! program and have been interviewed, you do not have to submit another separate application to Innovator. 

 

At BranchOut!, mentoring is defined as something much broader - it is not just about tutoring; it is about supporting and helping others grow as not only an individual but a community. Our three new projects reflect our definition of “mentoring,” and we hope to meet (virtually) our mentors this upcoming summer! 

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