SENIOR PARTNERS PROGRAM
Brooksville "Senior Partners" (l to r) Rowan Van Buskirk-Waring, Anna Ludlow, Abby Andrews
This fall (2014) we have started a pilot mentoring program for Brooksville freshmen entering George Stevens Academy. We are calling this the “Senior Partners ” program. We selected GSA as a site for this pilot because it is the high school attended by the majority of our students and also because Deer Isle/Stonington, another high school popular with Brooksville students, already has extensive mentoring programs in place.
Through the “Senior Partners” program, each Brooksville freshman has been paired with a successful Brooksville member of the GSA senior class. These seniors serve as role models and guides, helping freshman navigate unfamiliar and sometimes confusing terrain. As of now, this program is being run entirely by the Brooksville Education Foundation, though GSA has expressed interest and is monitoring our progress.
There is extensive research nationally about the difficult transition from grade school to high school. Brooksville students are not immune. They move from a tiny elementary school (58 students), where they are often in a class of 5-6, to a much larger school (330 at GSA) with all of the attendant social pressures and distractions. In addition, they often report feeling totally unprepared by their elementary experience for the increased quantity and quality of work expected of them at GSA. How well they respond to being thrown off the deep end of the educational pool seems indicative of the rest of their high school experience.
Creating a more supportive environment for high school students has become a nationally recognized imperative, variously interpreted at the local level. GSA is moving in the direction of providing enhanced support, especially for freshmen. The new “Freshman Seminar” focuses on improving study skills and work habits. The math lab provides extra help with math. Recently GSA was awarded a two-year grant to work on improving its student advisory efforts through increased faculty training and involvement.
Our “Senior Partners” program supplements these school-based supports from a unique perspective, that of students who have made GSA work for them and are willing to share their insights with younger peers. This thought is echoed by Abby, one of our Senior Partners, who said, “ I wish this program had been in place when I was a freshman.”
Peer-to-peer mentoring in a high school setting has proven effective in other locations and has been tied to an enhanced sense of community connectedness and to improved academic performance. We will be learning what we can from successful models in other schools as we continue work on Brooksville’s program.
Just prior to the start of school, we hosted a kickoff pizza dinner for our freshmen, their Senior Partners, and their parents. It was well attended and warmly received. An unexpected, but very positive outcome of this gathering was the way in which the parents of seniors reached out to freshman parents to offer them support and guidance, should they feel the need. Supportive networks of families could prove invaluable to all involved.
Our board member Martha Jordan, who has years of experience as a high school counselor and social worker, has been very instrumental in getting this program off the ground. Thank you, Martha. We have also benefited from the advice of Kim Hutchinson, another counselor and social worker, who runs a similar, very successful mentoring program on Deer Isle for college freshmen from the island.
Through the “Senior Partners” program, each Brooksville freshman has been paired with a successful Brooksville member of the GSA senior class. These seniors serve as role models and guides, helping freshman navigate unfamiliar and sometimes confusing terrain. As of now, this program is being run entirely by the Brooksville Education Foundation, though GSA has expressed interest and is monitoring our progress.
There is extensive research nationally about the difficult transition from grade school to high school. Brooksville students are not immune. They move from a tiny elementary school (58 students), where they are often in a class of 5-6, to a much larger school (330 at GSA) with all of the attendant social pressures and distractions. In addition, they often report feeling totally unprepared by their elementary experience for the increased quantity and quality of work expected of them at GSA. How well they respond to being thrown off the deep end of the educational pool seems indicative of the rest of their high school experience.
Creating a more supportive environment for high school students has become a nationally recognized imperative, variously interpreted at the local level. GSA is moving in the direction of providing enhanced support, especially for freshmen. The new “Freshman Seminar” focuses on improving study skills and work habits. The math lab provides extra help with math. Recently GSA was awarded a two-year grant to work on improving its student advisory efforts through increased faculty training and involvement.
Our “Senior Partners” program supplements these school-based supports from a unique perspective, that of students who have made GSA work for them and are willing to share their insights with younger peers. This thought is echoed by Abby, one of our Senior Partners, who said, “ I wish this program had been in place when I was a freshman.”
Peer-to-peer mentoring in a high school setting has proven effective in other locations and has been tied to an enhanced sense of community connectedness and to improved academic performance. We will be learning what we can from successful models in other schools as we continue work on Brooksville’s program.
Just prior to the start of school, we hosted a kickoff pizza dinner for our freshmen, their Senior Partners, and their parents. It was well attended and warmly received. An unexpected, but very positive outcome of this gathering was the way in which the parents of seniors reached out to freshman parents to offer them support and guidance, should they feel the need. Supportive networks of families could prove invaluable to all involved.
Our board member Martha Jordan, who has years of experience as a high school counselor and social worker, has been very instrumental in getting this program off the ground. Thank you, Martha. We have also benefited from the advice of Kim Hutchinson, another counselor and social worker, who runs a similar, very successful mentoring program on Deer Isle for college freshmen from the island.