Celebrating Our Students During Back-to-School Season

SME’s student community of 2,000 plus members epitomizes our core values of safety, stewardship, innovation, ethics, inclusion and collaboration. Across 90 active student chapters and beyond, they work together to build a broad-based understanding of the mining industry and foster a sense of unity and identity with their peers.

SME student members stay engaged with the Society through a variety of key opportunities, including the annual Student Chapter Membership Challenge. This is a contest between student chapters occurring June 1 to October 31. This contest challenges student members to recruit new students to join their respective student chapter and become SME members, addressing the demand for a workforce capable of meeting the mining and mineral needs of the future.

Further supporting the next generation of the mining workforce, including students and student chapters, is SME’s Young Leaders Committee (YLC). Working in subcommittees, members of the YLC are given opportunities for personal development and are in the position to gain and share knowledge as well as provide development opportunities to others while expanding their professional network. You can meet the SME Young Leaders Class of 2026 here.

Right around the corner is a call for SME scholarship applications, opening on September 1. Each year, SME and the SME Foundation offer a wide variety of scholarships to SME student members who demonstrate a desire for and probability of success in a career in the minerals industry. We encourage eligible students to get ahead by familiarizing themselves with available scholarship opportunities and associated guidelines at smenet.org/scholarships.

“Lending our support to the student community as they mature into young professionals is an invaluable part of our mission,” said Mona Vandervoort, SME Education Coordinator. “We look forward to their remarkable achievements in the 2026-2027 school year.”

For grade school audiences, the SME Foundation’s Minerals Education Coalition (MEC) develops and delivers accurate and timely K-12 education materials and activities and conducts public awareness outreach about mining and minerals. A plethora of free and affordable resources for K-12 educators and the public are available at mineralseducationcoalition.org.