The Adopt-A-School Program puts FBI Special
Agents and staff members into local schools to mentor and
tutor kids.
In most cases, our volunteers create programs
to help kids who are "at risk" or disadvantaged
learn how to improve academically and become good citizens.
They hope, above all, to show kids how to resist bad influences
that could lead them to crime, drug use, gang participation,
and violence. It goes without saying that our volunteers
respect the privacy of the students and their families,
and all information is kept confidential.
We also have a new program that is specific
to Northern Virginia. The FBI Laboratory, which is located
there, has created a Junior Scientist
program. Here members of our laboratory go into a local
school with a learning program that encourages students
to consider science and laboratory work as a career.
We
have active programs in our 56 field
offices and in some of our headquarters offices in the
Washington, DC, area. Some of our offices adopt elementary
schools; others, middle or high schools—all of the
schools are in areas where kids are considered to be "at
risk." You can find the program in your area by contacting
your local community outreach representative.
The
programs vary. In some cases, our agents and staff members
will focus just on mentoring and tutoring in the classroom
during the school year. In others, they work with school
officials to set up a 10- to 16-week Junior Special Agent
program that teaches a course in civics and how to be a
law-abiding citizen. At the end of this program, kids who
pass the course graduate and are awarded Junior Special
Agent status. See the Junior Special Agent in Training Handbook.
