making a difference: Mentoring at west greene
T
he years spent in school, elementary through high school, are some of the most important years in your life. Your educational journey lays the foundation for your life, greatly impacting your career path and how well you are prepared for adult life. For a lot of
By Sevanna Shields
children, school is often the only consistent part of their lives. West Greene is dedicating themselves to their youth, implementing more STEM opportunities and providing student mentoring, the Pioneers are living up to their name. Children open up to someone their age be-
West Greene’s Peer Mentoring Advisory Team joins with other Pennsylvanians to advocate Congress on behalf of the impact of mentoring. Representing WG are Tim Barnes, Melissa Ullom, Karlie Wright, and Jed Hamberger.
cause they feel more comfortable and able to communicate. Using this knowledge, West Greene teachers had previously implemented a peer-topeer tutoring program. However, the program wasn’t showing the results they had hoped for, so they started looking outside of the box. They contacted The Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania and created a personalized mentoring program for the district. The program is set in levels: Mentee, Mentor-in-Training, and Mentor. Mentee’s are middle school students that, at the teachers’ discretion, receive a letter of recommendation. In 9th grade, the Mentee’s begin making the transition to Mentor-inTraining (MIT). MITs complete training to become mentors. They learn problem solving skills and leadership skills to help their younger counterparts. After completing their training, students then become Mentors. These students have learned how to communicate efficiently, how to lead with example, and have gained insight to the diverse group of students they interact with everyday. Meetings are held at least once a week during school hours, allowing students who do not have transportation for after school activities to participate. Staff members Timothy Barnes and Melissa Ullom are the minds that helped create the mentoring program about four years ago, with Karlie Wright joining the cause last year. Their council is small but their support network is amazing. K-12 Academic Advisor, Jed Hamberger, has been a spokesperson for this program and many others.
The Staunton Farm Foundation, a grant-funding organization who prioritizes behavioral health awareness and diversion from the criminal justice system, provided funding for the first two years. After the first two years, the school board recognized improvement and voted to fund the program. With the customized mentoring program, children are flourishing. All students at West Greene are given a RISK score, a rating compiled from multiple data sources such as grades, attendance, disciplinary citations, etc. The higher the score, the farther away students gravitate from a successful high school experience. This scoring system is set in place to hopefully “catch” struggling youth so they get the support they need. RISK scores are lowering and students are creating lasting bonds and support systems that will stay with them, not only through middle school and high school, but through their entire lives. West Greene is also working on the improvement and addition of STEM programs that allow students to explore career possibilities. Classes such as hydroponics, where students work on growing plants in a self-sustainable system, provide experience. They also have welding, carpentry, robotics, computer science, and many more. Students in STEM programs are given freedom to have creativity and encouraged to ask questions, leading to interesting idea and experiments. West Greene has more renovations and more projects coming in the future and hopes to continue to excel in education opportunities.
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24
GreeneScene Magazine •
APRIL 2019
