(ABC 6 News) – More middle and high school students at Rochester Public Schools are engaging in the STEM mentorship program than ever before.

Now in its fourth year, there are around 150 students enrolled, which one mentor says is around triple the amount of students involved last year.

“We’re creating a culture in the school, a culture where STEM is cool,” said Debra Las, an 8th grade science teacher at John Adams Middle School.

The increase in participation is causing local non-profit Oraculi, which helps RPS bring in mentors to the program, to ask for more volunteers.

“Last week we had seven mentors, so we could use some more help,” said Las. “We’re running around quite a bit, but it’s a great problem to have.”

Some of the kids were drawn to the program due to their passion for science, like John Adams Middle School 8th grader Aditi Sriram, who hopes to grow up to be a biomedical engineer.

“I’ve always really loved STEM and science in particular, probably because my mom is a doctor at Mayo Clinic and she’s the one who inspires me,” said Sriram.

Others joined simply because they wanted to be with friends and discovered a new interest along the way.

“My friend just like texted me like our topic is why is social media so addictive, and that was like a really good topic because social media is like really hot nowadays and even I spend a lot of time on social media,” said Aiden Lee, a 7th grader at John Adams Middle School.

All the students are focusing on a variety of science projects they will debut later in the school year.

“I’m using AI to try to filter out the motion artifact from like PPG readings, so in turn it can create a better heart rate,” said Sriram.

The kids are truly grateful for the chance to learn from their mentors.

“Ms. Las is obviously such a huge help in everything,” said Sriram.

However, to make sure every student gets the full benefits of the program, more mentors are needed.

“These are kids that have a passion, they have a desire, they want to learn more and we just need more adults to help us answer their questions,” said Las.

To become a mentor, you can call John Adams Middle School or follow the link here.