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Become a Mouse Classroom Mentor

Share your career story. Give students real feedback on real work. Stand in the room when they present it.

Mouse is recruiting industry professionals to mentor students in New York City and Newark public schools during the 2026-27 school year.

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Applications close

Friday, September 25, 2026

Reviewed on a rolling basis. Apply early for the best chance at your preferred region.

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Apply now — Start your volunteer application

Questions? Email us anytime at [email protected]

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About Mouse

Mouse is a national youth development nonprofit that believes technology should be a force for good, and young people should be the ones building it.

This school year is Mouse's 30th. For three decades we have worked inside public schools rather than around them, partnering with teachers to bring computing and design into the regular school day.

Our programs are built for students who have historically been furthest from opportunity in tech, and they are delivered where those students already are: their own classrooms.

In the 2025-26 school year, Mouse's school-based programs reached 1,343 students and 58 teachers across 39 schools.

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Computing Fluency and Informed Perspectives is AI Era Readiness

We do not treat generative AI as a tool students should simply learn to operate. Exposure alone is not fluency. Our programs build the underlying capacities that make a student a capable builder and a critical user: computational thinking, computer science fundamentals, engineering design, and human-centered problem solving. Students learn to test rather than trust, to evaluate outputs for bias and accuracy, and to connect generative AI's capabilities with solving challenges in their own communities.

That is where you come in. The gap between a classroom project and a career is not closed by curriculum alone. It is closed by people who have walked the path.

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Mouse.org Student Programs

Mouse offers two school day programs: AI League and Introduction to AI League. You will be matched to one of them. Both programs put students in the position of creator rather than consumer, and both culminate in students presenting their work to an audience that includes professionals like you.

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Introduction to AI League

A 22-lesson introduction for students in grades 6 through 10, delivered as an integrated curriculum during the school day or as an after-school program. It is the exposure on-ramp: broader access, lighter footprint, same posture.

What Students Do

• Build foundational AI literacy and learn to engage with AI as a creative and problem-solving partner
• Practice human-centered design and computational problem-solving
• Create a wireframe, a prototype, and a product pitch
• Present at a school presentation day and contribute to a citywide virtual showcase </aside>

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AI League

A year-long, 60-hour course for middle and high school students, structured as six product development sprints that leverage our "learn, apply, build" approach. Students learn about computing, how AI works, and how data shapes decisions through human-centered design and market research, leading into building and pitching an app-driven product. This is our depth program that positions students for deeper upstream opportunities.

What Students Do

• Explore how AI systems work and think computationally about problems in their communities
• Learn human-centered design and UX/UI so what they build meets real user needs
• Conduct market research, analyze existing products, and gather user insights
• Build a working prototype in Figma and develop it in a startup-style product incubator
• Pitch to educators, peers, and industry judges
• Each school sends its top team to Emoti-Con, our citywide competition at Amazon NYC HQ </aside>

View — AI League Scope & Sequence

The Classroom Mentor Role

Who Should Volunteer

If you enjoy encouraging young people and can talk honestly about your own work, you are a likely good fit. You do not need to be a teacher, nor have mentored before.

You Are a Strong Fit If