STEM Ambassador Training

Who: 4-H STEM Ambassadors are college students, at the University of Maine in Orono or Farmington, who are interested in facilitating STEM Challenges.  Please note we have a limited capacity and space for volunteers and host sites, so sign up early!

What: 4-H STEM Ambassadors are committing to becoming 4-H volunteers which includes an application process, training sessions, and facilitating four STEM sessions.

Where: Training is offered in-person. Live participation is required in all sessions to become enrolled as a 4-H STEM Ambassador.

When:  

  • In-Person Training Sessions 
    • Training sessions will depend on the campus the student is enrolled in.

Modules:

  • 4-H Volunteer Application Process (Required)
    Application, reference checks, background check, required online learning modules
  • High-quality Youth Development Training (Required)
    Goals of this session will be to introduce the foundational concepts of 4-H youth development and online teaching strategies. 
  • Experiential Learning Training  (Required)
    Goal of this session will be to provide an introduction to teaching methods used in 4-H programs.
  • Content Training (Required – for the activities you will facilitate)

Anticipated training and onboarding time is expected to be about 6 hours. At least half of this will be live training times.

All STEM Ambassadors will need:

  1. Submit a Maine 4-H STEM Ambassadors Application create a new household using “State Office” as your county, then set up your volunteer account, and complete the application.
  2. SBI Background Check or proof of completion/fingerprinting.  For instructions on how to submit a background check, visit this Volunteer Background Check website. This website is password protected.  If you haven’t yet received the password from the UMaine Extension staff member you’ve been working with, please contact that staff member directly for that information. There is no cost to the volunteer applicant. Please remember to notify the 4-H staff when you’ve completed the background check so that it may be processed.