Outreach Opportunities

Save the Dates for these Volunteer Opportunities!

March 4 & 5 – Introduce a Girl to Engineering

SWE will be hosting an activity and booth at this years event to be held on March 4 & 5 at UNO, Milo Bail Student Center. We are expecting over 300 young ladies from 6-12th grade to attend this event. If you are interested in helping with this event for a couple of hours please contact Ana Salgado at easternnebraskaswe@gmail.com

March 20 & 21 – First Lego League Championship

First Lego League is hosting their biggest two-day competition in Nebraska history! They are looking for volunteers to help with this event on March 20 & 21, 2026 at the Cook Pavilion, Coliseum, City Campus Union, in Lincoln. No prior experience in robotics needed to help with this event.

Please see the information below from Brandy Schulze, 4-H Educational Engagement Coordinator at UNL. Thank you!!

Hello STEM Colleagues!

I’m reaching out to see if any of you might be interested in helping with our 3^rd Annual Nebraska 4-H Robotics Expansion and FIRST LEGO League Championship event in Lincoln on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21. This 700+ youth event relies on the expertise and support of people like you, and it’s always rewarding to see the impact our time and skills can have on youth discovering their passion for STEM.

If you’re able to volunteer—or know someone in your circle who might be a good fit—I’d love to connect. Thanks for all you do to support STEM learning and youth development.

What is FIRST LEGO League Challenge?

Friendly competition is at the heart of Challenge, as teams of students ages 9-14 engage in research, problem-solving, coding, and engineering – building and programming a LEGO robot that navigates the mission of a robot game. Participants gain real-world problem-solving experiences through a guided, global robotics program, helping today’s students and teachers build a better future together. Check out this short video to get an idea of some general information about FIRST LEGO League. https://youtu.be/kkN08bDv9EI

Sound awesome? It is! We are looking for volunteers!

You could serve in any role but based off the talent and expertise, I would recommend two different volunteer roles as either a Judge, Judge Assistant, Querers, Pit Runner, Robot Game Querer, Referee, or Field Attendent. Please reach out to the Eastern Nebraska SWE contact (Jeanne Stewart) below for additional information on all other volunteer roles. There really is a spot for anyone who wants to volunteer!

What to Expect the Day of an Event

• Volunteer Parking – Volunteers will park with the teams so parking will be free both days of the event.
• Volunteer Meals – Volunteers will be offered a student dining experience on the UNL City Campus for lunch on both days.
• Volunteer Lounge with Food – Generally, at a full-day or multi-day FIRST event, a volunteer lounge with food and refreshments away from the crowd will be supplied to show our appreciation for your time and to help re-energize you.
• Volunteer T-Shirt and Name Badge – Depending on the program and event, you may be given a T-shirt and name badge. These appoint you as a FIRST volunteer for the event. These items will grant you access to the areas you will need to access to complete your volunteer role and are also your ticket to the volunteer lounge for food and refreshments throughout the day if a volunteer lounge is provided.  
• Log Your Volunteer Hours – You may want to log your volunteer hours after the event if you are volunteering for school credit, for your employer, or for other reasons
• Lodging – Volunteers will have access to our discounted host hotels if there is a desire to stay in Lincoln.

All volunteers will need to register at: https://www.firstinspires.org/

• Volunteers will want to choose “Login” in the upper right corner and create a profile. Once a profile is created, it will lead to a Dashboard
• Choose “Volunteer Registration”
• Check Event Volunteering
• Select FIRST LEGO League-Challenge
• Choose Nebraska and the USA
• Click “Apply Filters”
• Under the Nebraska Championship Tournament (3/20-3/21), click the blue box “Volunteer”
• Continue to answer the questions that are prompted until you reach the end. Note: Each volunteer will need to complete the youth screening process in order to be assigned a role

Need a little more help with completing the process? Check out the FIRST Volunteer Registration Guide

Please reach out to Jeanne Stewart at easternnebraskaswe@gmail.com if you have any questions.

March 27 – Metro Area Science Fair

We are looking for volunteers to judge Metro Area Science Fair projects from 8A-Noon at the Henry Doorly Zoo.

SWE is presenting awards for this event, and we will be judging projects in the STEM field that are being presented by young women. It is a fun event and a great opportunity to see what great projects these ladies presenting. You will receive free admission to the zoo, so after the judging is done, you are welcome to visit the zoo on your own. More information is available at MSEF Omaha

If you have never judged before, not to worry! We will have a few seasoned judges to guide you through the process. Judges will have a chance to review abstracts prior to the fair which will be very helpful when visiting with these young ladies at the event.

Please contact Jeanne Stewart at easternnebraskaswe@gmail.com by March 20 if you are interested. Please reference MSEF in your subject line.

Check out OmahaSTEM and other area STEM organizations on LinkedIn for additional Outreach Opportunities during Engineers Week!