Café Scientifique - New Mexico

Café Scientifique Youth Leadership Team: Q&A

We have tried to imagine some questions you might have and then written some answers.

What's in it for me?

Above all, we hope you will find leading the Café program interesting and fun...and not particularly stressful. We hope you will get a kick out of being part of something new and completely different. You and your peers will be the key to the success of this experimental program—and when it's successful, it will spread to other parts of the country. You will have a chance to learn some new skills that may serve you well in other areas later. You will get to be part of an elite team. You will have a chance to meet some new people. And, being part of the Youth Leadership Team will look really good on your resume when you apply to college of for a job. If you are a MESA member, you even get scholarship points.

What is expected of me? What am I supposed to do?

Again, the success of the program will depend on the YLT. So it will be up to you and your peers to be part of setting up and running the Café sessions, deciding what topics will be most appealing to your fellow teens, spreading the word about the program and encouraging people to come to the Cafés, and generally working together to make the program work. It will be important to be active in doing the work of whatever committee you are on. It will be very important to come on time to the meetings. You will need to check your e-mail every day or so to make sure you are up on what’s going on. Be in touch with us regularly with questions or ideas. Call out for help on email or our social network when you get swamped with other commitments and can’t handle your Café commitments. It happens to everyone! It will be very helpful indeed for YLT members to participate in the social networking internet pages—to tell everyone what they have been up to and contributing their ideas. Also, it will be helpful for you to contribute your comments to the blog on the Cafe Web site following each presentation.

How much is it OK to take some initiative or am I just supposed to do what I’m told?

This program is all new to all of us, and there is no set way of doing anything. We are all making this up as we go along. We absolutely encourage YLT members to take a lot of initiative. You are going to have good ideas that no one has thought of. You may have ideas about people you think ought to know about the program—go after them. You may have ideas about better ways to advertise. You may have ideas about some interesting topics related to science that no one has thought of—you should promote having Cafés on such topics. You are very much encouraged to put up your ideas on the social network site—there are no bad ideas here. You should feel free to contact people you know in your school or in other towns about the Café. In general, we just want you to be out there doing stuff—and to the extent your time permits. We understand you are all busy.

I am volunteering for a committee, but I am a little nervous because I don’t have that much experience—how much help can I count on?

Don’t worry. A lot of this is going to be new to us all. We will all have a learning curve. You are not going to be out there on your own. You will be working as part of a team and you will be able to help each other. And the adult organizers are going to be there to help you and support you in any way you need it. You need only to ask.

How much extra time will it require to be on the YLT?

In this first year as we continue designing the program, youth leaders will meet for an hour once or twice a month in the beginning two months, then only 30 minutes or so once we get the routine down. The shorter meetings could be held right after a Café presentation or on another day, what ever works for the team. At these meetings, we will iron out details for the next meeting and pick follow up activities. Additionally, some of our discussion can be done by email or on our MySpace or Facebook sites, whatever works best for the group.

General Meeting Times for Youth Leadership Teams

Albuquerque YLT will meet right after their monthly Café presentation.

Los Alamos YLT will meet on the first Wednesday of the month during lunch at the high school.

Santa Fe and Española/Pojoaque times are still to be determined.

Learn more about being on a YLT Committee...

What is this social network all about?

We have set up Café Scientifique groups in MySpace and Facebook to better communicate with you and other teens interested in the Café Scientifique program. Each town has its own groups - one on MySpace and one on Facebook. You can join the group any time. It is a place for all participants in the Café to sign on and learn about and from each other. We will make regular postings of news about the program and about interesting science discoveries we learn about. Sign up and check it out!

Town	Facebook group name	MySpace

Albuquerque	Albuquerque Cafe Scientifique
Santa Fe	Café Scientifique NM - Santa Fe
Española/Pojoaque	Café Scientifique NM - Española / Pojoaque
Los Alamos	Café Scientifique NM - Los Alamos