GRADUATION SPECIALIST
MENTORING STRATEGIES FOR
There is a three pronged plan for providing some form of mentoring for the student body. The first was to form “Peer Mentors” within the student body, followed by recruiting community members to adopt a student to mentor, and finally involve private business in the effort of creating positive alternatives in decision making and performance.
A group of Peer Mentors have been recruited and hand picked to take on the task of being positive role models and resources of help for their peers. Each Peer Mentor has been assigned at least four students to serve and there are 32 Peer Mentors. This group consists of members of each class and every ethnic group. Every Peer Mentor has to maintain a “B” average and cannot be involved in any disciplinary action. The group is on going and growing. This was an effort to break up negative groups within our student body and give alternatives to new friends by establishing trust in positive role models who are students.
Community Mentors will begin to be recruited in January 07. The first to be approached will be the parents of the Peer Mentors. These parents have been successful in communicating the value of education to their children to the point where there is a willingness to help others. Parents will be asked to make contact with the parents of at risk students to form a block alliance. Community leaders such as pastors, doctors, lawyers, educators, government officials, fathers, and mothers are to be added as examples of responsible citizens and caretakers.
The third semester
will involve the encouragement of private businesses to take an interest in the
progress and success of
This plan is separated into three parts with the anticipation of new elements coming. The idea is to keep the program in operation over the summer and into next year with all three areas working together. Taking steps to build relationships through mentoring requires a solid base. Allowing each step time to build and grow will ensure that it will not fail or lose support. To date 128(approx 10%) students have received mentoring services. This number is expected to reach close to 300 (25%) by the end of the second semester. The first event to start phase 2 of the plan is scheduled for January 12 at Gainesville High School’s Red Shed, as a” meet and greet” type event.
Gene Earls
Graduation Specialist