It is 8 o’clock on a Wednesday morning, and 20 quizzical freshmen are staring at two senior girls who have dropped by their class. All eyes are focused on the two senior girls. Their classroom teacher has politely left the room, at the request of the seniors.
“How is high school going for you guys so far?” asks Rockie Moore, the shorter of the two, who has her hair in a perky bun.
The freshmen stare hesitantly before they begin to reply.
This is a typical mentoring session started this year to help freshmen transition to the rigors of high school. The sessions take place every Wednesday for 15-20 minutes in freshman classes. The senior mentors field questions from the freshmen.
In another nearby classroom, fellow mentors Kiara Salisbury and Alex Tucker are leading their own meeting with a different group of freshmen.
“This program for ninth graders is an excellent way to guide and direct them,” says Salisbury. Seniors, she says, most likely have been in similar situations as freshmen and have beneficial advice to give them. “Why not pass it on to less experienced ones, such as the freshmen?” Salisbury asks.
The godfather of the school’s new mentoring program is School Principal Michael Horn, who dispatched the members of his Principal’s Council to be mentors to the freshmen.
According to mentor Tucker, a common topic she discusses with freshmen is, “How is high school different from junior high?”
Tuckers says freshmen notice that their high school is much larger than their middle school, and they are concerned that many of their friends were split up to attend different high schools.
Freshman mentee Jahquille Lloyd asked his mentor, “What makes high school fun?” Mentor Salisbury told him, “You as an individual make it fun, and the people you choose to hang around.”
Her mentor partner, Tucker, told her group, “Taking care of your responsibilities and staying out of trouble allows you to have fun in high school.”
Tucker sums up the mentoring program like this: The main point is for ninth graders to learn from any of the mistakes seniors have made. “The goal is to help underclassmen make rational decisions so that when it is time to walk across that stage, you are satisfied with your accomplishments.”
Teachers have acknowledged the benefit of this program. Tucker says, “If there was a program like this (when I was a freshman) I would have made better decisions.”