Mentoring Advanced Programs for Students

MAPS' Mission and Initiatives
MAPS’ mission is to challenge high school students to succeed in more rigorous academic subjects and to prepare them to become future leaders and innovators in the global economy.

MAPS was founded with three fundamental beliefs. First, more rigorous courses are requisite in high school if US students are to be competitive in the global economy. Second, all students should have the opportunity to succeed in these rigorous courses – not just the privileged. Third, mentors can play a significant, if not vital, role in education and can help many more students succeed in challenging courses.

MAPS was founded in 2005 after Scott Keeney, CEO of nLIGHT, a leading manufacturer of semiconductor lasers read Rising above the Gathering Storm.  The citations from Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) particularly piqued his interest. These data clearly documented what he had anecdotally observed among his colleagues and staff, that those who had been educated abroad had faced much more rigorous coursework than the typical US high school student. These data were distressing, but they also offered great hope. While average US students were at the bottom of international comparisons, students who passed AP® tests were at the top of the list. 

Based on this data, MAPS was founded in 2005 with the simple and pragmatic idea to provide mentors to encourage and support students taking rigorous courses such as Advanced Placement Courses. By pairing engineers, scientists, and other professionals from the high tech sector with small groups of students taking AP® classes, MAPS supports students taking rigorous AP® classes with a mentor who provides both an important relationship and who brings greater relevance to coursework.

MAPS' goals are simple but powerful:

1. Encourage more students to take rigorous advanced placement® (AP®) programs
2. Help more students succeed in these programs
3. Advise students on their college and career choices, encourage them to pursue world-class colleges, and expose them to a wide variety of career options
4. Support teachers in providing the highest quality teaching to students

MAPS' History
In 2005, with limited funding and volunteers from nLIGHT, Educational Service District 112, and Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council, MAPS ran a pilot program. With seven engineers and physicists from nLIGHT, the pilot year focused solely on AP® Physics and served 22 students from six high schools.

The initial pilot received an enthusiastic response from teachers, students, mentors, and many others in the community.  Based on this success, MAPS expanded in 2006 to include other leading high tech firms in Southwest Washington such as Hewlett Packard, Sharp Laboratories of America, Underwriters Laboratories, and nLight. Supported by additional funding from local school districts, MAPS expanded to cover AP® courses beyond physics including chemistry, calculus, biology, and statistics and to serve over 90 students in ten schools. In 2006, MAPS also established a 501(c)(3) entity and a board of directors.

By 2007, MAPS had secured funding from Washington State Legislature, private foundations, school districts, and individuals and began implementing plans to expand its scope of services across the state.

For more information:

Address: P.O. Box 2338, Vancouver, WA 98668
Email: info@apmentoring.org
Phone: (360) 718-1603