Strive Mentorship 1999-2000

-- Anonymous, April 03, 2000

Answers

Strive Mentorship

The Strive Mentorship Program began in International Falls, through the efforts of local service agencies, in the fall of 1998. A group of about a dozen mentors have been active in the project since it began. We meet on the first Tuesday of each month for a 7:30 a.m. breakfast and planning meeting. We discuss struggles and successes as well as program plans for the breakfast meetings that take place with the Strive students on the third Tuesday of each month.

Teachers of the students involved in the Strive Program provide mentors with behavioral and academic information that help the mentors provide support and encouragement. This teacher/mentor communication is done with the permission of the Strive students and their parents.

The student that I am working with this year is a former student of mine. Jodi is a very personable girl. She works at the Dairy Queen three to four nights during the week as well as on Saturday. She is the youngest child in her family. Both of her parents and her older siblings are employed in International Falls. Her family is supportive of Jodis involvement in the Strive Program and encourages her to work hard in school. The familys conflicting work schedules, however, leave little time for them to directly assist Jodi with her homework projects.

Jodis teachers describe her as a quiet girl who needs to work on organizational skills to avoid handing in assignments late. Jodis attendance is excellent and she works very well on group projects done in class. Jodi and I discussed her problems in organization and found that by keeping an assignment notebook up to date, she is better able to complete assignments on time. She is not always successful but she is doing better. Jodis teachers also notify me of dates when large, long-term projects such as grad standard packets are due. This enables me to remind and assist Jodi in completion of these assignments.

I am enjoying my year as a mentor and I think that Jodi is enjoying the mentorship experience too. She made the B Honor Roll last quarter and seems to be on track to do so again this quarter. She has not missed any of the mentorship breakfast meetings and has maintained a positive attitude. Jodi is certainly a contender for one of the monetary scholarships that the Strive Program awards each year.

-- Anonymous, May 14, 2000