After mentoring a group of eager sixth graders for the past 10 weeks, several Boston AOLers got the chance last week to see our students shine.Through the Citizen Schools program, which partners with middle schools in low-income communities to extend the learning day and provide students with new learning opportunities and experiences, we've worked with the kids to teach them all about business networking.

At last week's "6 Degrees of Boston WOW!" event, we saw our young apprentices test their skills shaking hands, making small talk, asking career-related questions and politely transitioning between conversations. Other Boston AOLers joined us at the event to staff an AOL booth, trade-show-style. Our team exchanged business cards and career information with the students and socialized with future engineers, doctors, pianists, and basketball players.

The event culminated the second consecutive semester the Boston office has participated in the Citizen Schools program, with which AOL has partnered for the past three years. Our colleagues in New York have also mentored groups of kids twice yearly, culminating in "WOW" events hosted in the New York office. In addition, Tim Armstrong and Arianna Huffington taught a Citizen Schools class about local journalism last year.

Learn more about AOL's community initiatives here.