Laguna Beach High School Needs Your Help!
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Jun Shen
Aug 10, 2026, 5:32:42 PMAug 10
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Dear RSSC,
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jun Shen, and I am the Authentic Exploratory Research (AER) Program Coordinator at Laguna Beach High School. I am asking for your help to mentor one of my high school students in his independent research project.
LBUSD is one of only a handful of school districts in the country that offers an academic elective course in which high school students conduct a year-long research project on any topic of their choice. To learn more about our Authentic Exploratory Research program, please visit www.lbusd.org/aer. There’s a three-minute overview video there that will explain our program pretty well.
One of the unique and indispensable aspects of AER is the mentorship component. Each research student is paired with an industry or academic mentor to guide, inspire, and share perspectives with the student. The time commitment is a few hours a month for the mentor. I’m sure that as a high-level professional, you must have a busy schedule. The base form of communication required for an AER mentorship is to respond to an email from the student every two weeks. Beyond that, students and mentors are free to come to a communication routine that suits the project's needs and is mutually convenient. We also have a series of on-campus events to which we invite the mentors and students, the first one being a Welcome Breakfast to launch the student-mentor partnership on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, from 8:00 to 9:30 AM.
We’ve interviewed our incoming AER students for 2026-2027, and I have a bright student who wants to pursue a project to prototype a 30"x30" wheeled robot to help EMT's carry and/or deliver lifesaving supplies. I realize that your area of focus might not be a precise match for a student’s research topic. In fact, such a precise match is relatively rare. What we mostly need from mentors is for them to draw from their vast experience in their respective general fields, which in your case is robotics, in order to encourage, inspire, and provide perspectives to our students.
If someone from your organization would consider mentoring this student, even if you are not completely certain, please email me at js...@lbusd.org. I would be more than happy to send you more detailed information on what an AER mentorship entails.
Thank you in advance,
Jun Shen
LBHS AER Program Coordinator
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jun Shen, and I am the Authentic Exploratory Research (AER) Program Coordinator at Laguna Beach High School. I am asking for your help to mentor one of my high school students in his independent research project.
LBUSD is one of only a handful of school districts in the country that offers an academic elective course in which high school students conduct a year-long research project on any topic of their choice. To learn more about our Authentic Exploratory Research program, please visit www.lbusd.org/aer. There’s a three-minute overview video there that will explain our program pretty well.
One of the unique and indispensable aspects of AER is the mentorship component. Each research student is paired with an industry or academic mentor to guide, inspire, and share perspectives with the student. The time commitment is a few hours a month for the mentor. I’m sure that as a high-level professional, you must have a busy schedule. The base form of communication required for an AER mentorship is to respond to an email from the student every two weeks. Beyond that, students and mentors are free to come to a communication routine that suits the project's needs and is mutually convenient. We also have a series of on-campus events to which we invite the mentors and students, the first one being a Welcome Breakfast to launch the student-mentor partnership on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, from 8:00 to 9:30 AM.
We’ve interviewed our incoming AER students for 2026-2027, and I have a bright student who wants to pursue a project to prototype a 30"x30" wheeled robot to help EMT's carry and/or deliver lifesaving supplies. I realize that your area of focus might not be a precise match for a student’s research topic. In fact, such a precise match is relatively rare. What we mostly need from mentors is for them to draw from their vast experience in their respective general fields, which in your case is robotics, in order to encourage, inspire, and provide perspectives to our students.
If someone from your organization would consider mentoring this student, even if you are not completely certain, please email me at js...@lbusd.org. I would be more than happy to send you more detailed information on what an AER mentorship entails.
Thank you in advance,
Jun Shen
LBHS AER Program Coordinator
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Jun Shen
Aug 24, 2026, 4:34:19 PM (8 days ago) Aug 24
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Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to bring this up to the top of the list if anyone in the OC area is interested!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Jun
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