About five years ago, I was approached by one of our school’s administrator
to begin exploring the feasibility of implementing a freshmen mentorship
program in our high school. Several
other local high schools had similar programs, which reaped great benefits.
Thus, I set out on a journey to determine what a mentorship
program might look like in our building and how all the logistics would be
executed. My principal, the Freshmen
Principal, was incredibly supportive and knew the benefits it would bring to
our students. Research shows that
freshmen students, who develop a connection to a person and/or an activity in their
first year of high school, have increased academic success and higher rates of
graduation.
We established a plan and garnered funds from our community
foundation via grant and headed on our way.
The first year was a bit of a whirlwind. We ran on a skeleton crew of
mentors (about 9 student mentors for 450 freshmen) and adjusted and created
things as we went. I am incredibly proud
of that first year. My mentors worked
hard to create activities and develop connections with their students. Those
mentors were great leaders and I see that still now in them, as some of them
are finishing college and are heavily involved in Greek organizations or have
had success in the military. Those young
people set high expectations, which I still measure my current mentors against
today.
We are currently, in our 5th year of the program. We
have served almost 2000 students, while growing about 100 student leaders. Our program has been recognized nationally by
America’s Promise Alliance as being a key reason why our community was given
the status of “100 Best Communities for Young People”. Each year the program becomes a little
stronger and looks a little different. We have added great depth to our
curriculum by using pieces of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits for Highly Effective
Teens, The Search Institute’s 40 Assets and an in-depth curriculum
developed by Freshmen Focus.
One of the biggest obstacles we have faced this year is losing
our Freshmen Teachers as Lead Mentors in our mentorship classrooms. Due to a
new contract and schedule changes, our freshmen teachers were no longer able to
serve in these roles and we have utilized classroom aides this year. This has introduced some challenges, as the
freshmen students had no real connection to these aides and thus little respect;
furthermore, the aides did not know the students or the program and it has
taken a longer time to acclimate them to the purpose and functions of the
program. I will say that at this point in the school year things are running
great.
I am proud to share that my mentors are working diligently on
two service projects right now in conjunction with Do Something. We are wrapping up a jean drive, in which all
collected jeans will be dropped at our local Aeropostle, cleaned and then donated
to teens that are homeless. And, they have
been working hard to hand create 400 Valentine’s Day Cards. These valentines will be given to a local
Agency on Aging and delivered to their 400 meals on wheels clients on Valentine’s
Day.
My role as Mentorship Coordinator/Teacher is two-fold; to
create curriculum that grows and connects freshmen to our school community and
to nurture upper-class students to be leaders in our school and our community.
Mentoring matters on many levels and I appreciate the value
that my school district places in our program, because I know from the stories
that my mentors share that what they are doing makes a difference.
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