To promote a STEM career pipeline, a mentor outreach program was created within a K-12 charter school network, with a pilot year focusing on eighth and ninth-grade students. Utilizing a small cohort of volunteers from a nearby community college as student mentors and one faculty member, 12 visits were conducted throughout the school year. The mentors led science activities, made connections to their collegiate coursework in science, and worked to establish mentor relationships with students in order to motivate them to pursue science upon high school completion. As a result, survey data from the beginning compared to the end of the academic year showed increases in favorable perception of science by as much as 25%. This is most pronounced in young female students of color and by students whose parents have a high school education or lower.