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Mentoring program win-win at BHS
Adam Bernal/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Seniors at Benson High School recently took part in a peer-mentoring program where older students mentor incoming freshmen to help them excel in class and feel more comfortable at school.
Ignite is a dropout prevention program that uses peer-to-peer mentoring to decrease the student dropout rate and freshmen failure rate through increased involvement in school.
Mike DeSchalit, Ignite coach for Benson schools, said the program started at the beginning of the year to train the upperclassmen to act as positive peer mentors to freshmen students.
During the mentoring process, DeShalit said the seniors work with the freshmen to feel more comfortable at school and cover issues like setting goals in education, getting better grades and bullying. The mentors and students also do an activity each month to build trust and prepare them for the kinds of encounters they may have at school.
"The mentors gain leadership skills and problem solving skills that will help them later in life," DeSchalit said.
Through the program, DeSchalit said the mentors were able to build a lot of connectivity with the younger students and others around the school. By making school a comfortable and fun place to be, freshmen will be more likely to continue school and make the extra effort to succeed, he said.
"If we make school a safe environment, they will want to do well because of the positive peer influence," DeSchalit said.
The freshmen were also challenged to raise a full letter grade in one class, which was achieved by 59 percent of the students participating. The participating students were rewarded on Dec. 17 with a G&F Pizza party and a musical performance by Benson students Derrick Fenn and Nathan East.
Benson senior Luiz Lopez said it was a fun experience teaching younger students about how to be successful and be more comfortable at school.
"High school can be rough for freshmen, so it's good to have a group of older kids to help them out," Lopez said. Fellow senior Macie Ames noted that younger students tended to stay in their own groups before and had grown noticeably more comfortable with the seniors and other students at the school.
"They got more comfortable with other people than their usual friends," Ames said.
By acting as peer mentors, Ames feels they were able to make a difference in the students' lives and change their attitudes toward school. Ames said she would have enjoyed having mentors when she was a freshman and hoped the program would continue in the future.
DeSchalit said the school has been great to work with. He thanked Probation Officer Sepp Sprietsma, Benson School Resource Officer Gary Douglas and Benson Schools Counselor Kristy Reynolds for their help in making it happen.
"With them at the helm, it's been very successful," DeSchalit said.
Seniors at Benson High School recently took part in a peer-mentoring program where older students mentor incoming freshmen to help them excel in class and feel more comfortable at school.
Ignite is a dropout prevention program that uses peer-to-peer mentoring to decrease the student dropout rate and freshmen failure rate through increased involvement in school.
Mike DeSchalit, Ignite coach for Benson schools, said the program started at the beginning of the year to train the upperclassmen to act as positive peer mentors to freshmen students.
During the mentoring process, DeShalit said the seniors work with the freshmen to feel more comfortable at school and cover issues like setting goals in education, getting better grades and bullying. The mentors and students also do an activity each month to build trust and prepare them for the kinds of encounters they may have at school.
"The mentors gain leadership skills and problem solving skills that will help them later in life," DeSchalit said.
Through the program, DeSchalit said the mentors were able to build a lot of connectivity with the younger students and others around the school. By making school a comfortable and fun place to be, freshmen will be more likely to continue school and make the extra effort to succeed, he said.
"If we make school a safe environment, they will want to do well because of the positive peer influence," DeSchalit said.
The freshmen were also challenged to raise a full letter grade in one class, which was achieved by 59 percent of the students participating. The participating students were rewarded on Dec. 17 with a G&F Pizza party and a musical performance by Benson students Derrick Fenn and Nathan East.
Benson senior Luiz Lopez said it was a fun experience teaching younger students about how to be successful and be more comfortable at school.
"High school can be rough for freshmen, so it's good to have a group of older kids to help them out," Lopez said. Fellow senior Macie Ames noted that younger students tended to stay in their own groups before and had grown noticeably more comfortable with the seniors and other students at the school.
"They got more comfortable with other people than their usual friends," Ames said.
By acting as peer mentors, Ames feels they were able to make a difference in the students' lives and change their attitudes toward school. Ames said she would have enjoyed having mentors when she was a freshman and hoped the program would continue in the future.
DeSchalit said the school has been great to work with. He thanked Probation Officer Sepp Sprietsma, Benson School Resource Officer Gary Douglas and Benson Schools Counselor Kristy Reynolds for their help in making it happen.
"With them at the helm, it's been very successful," DeSchalit said.
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