For Yale Students
How to Sign Up
To volunteer for Demos, take a look at our programs and decide which you are interested in. More information on the commitments necessary for each activity are listed below, along with several frequently asked questions. Then, simply visit the "Sign Up" link. Both undergraduate and graduate students are welcome.
- If you indicate that you're interested in our weekly classroom program, you will be contacted by one of our school coordinators who will attempt to fit you into the school schedule. Please note, you are strongly encouraged to sign up for the weekly classroom program at the beginning of a semester.
- If you indicate that you're interested in the assemblies or the planetarium program, one of the coordinators of thoses programs will contact you and get you involved!
Attention Yale Students: Demos fall 2009 sign ups are online. Click here to sign up!
About our Programs: For Yale Volunteers
Weekly Classroom Program
The weekly classroom program is by far our most popular program with Yale students. Two- or three-person teams are matched with a classroom in one of New Haven's local elementary school. The teams visit once weekly to present a hands-on science activity with their students.- The time commitment is one hour per week -- but we will find a time which fits your schedule. Each week you'll pick up a bag of supplies from Dwight Hall on Old Campus and travel to and from your school. You'll spend about 40 minutes with the kids each week.
- Volunteers may chose their partners -- perhaps a friend or roommate -- or have them assigned.
- There will be a very minimal amount of training, in the form of a required meeting for all new volunteers before the first classroom visits. If you're still intimidated (there's no reason to be!) or would like extra help, just let us know!
- All volunteers will receive a binder full of instructions and supplemental information as well as a stylish Demos T-Shirt.
- Not a science major? Don't worry! This is fun, elementary school science. We make volcanoes, silly putty and ice cream. It's a blast and doesn't require that you be a science major!
Assemblies
Demos Assemblies presents assemblies to gymnasiums full of elementary school students. We use everything from liquid nitrogen, dry ice and some pretty crazy chemicals to frozen bananas, flowers and diapers in our thrilling show. Our demos are very large scale - we've been known to leave soap on gymnasium ceilings - but they're all easy to learn, and so much fun to present.- The time commitment for assemblies is slightly larger -- about 2.5 hours per assembly -- and more varied -- assemblies are roughly every-other Friday.
- If you have Friday afternoon class (after 12:30pm) your schedule probably won't allow you to help with Assemblies... but ask us anyway!
- Because of the varied schedule, volunteers are not necessarily expected to be at every assembly, as they are expected to make it to every weekly classroom visit.
- The Assemblies program visits different schools for each show, and sometimes travels outside of New Haven.
- A small amount of training is necessary before your first show. We'll take an hour to show you some of the neat demonstrations that we do, so that you're ready to go!
