Student To Student Mentoring
Student to Student Mentoring empowers intermediate students (grades 4-5) to successfully mentor younger students in both character development and academic growth. A team of over 40 mentors have been trained in character development through the 'Bamber Valley Way' to promote emotional growth of our students. The same students have also been trained in the essential academic outcomes for primary students. And on a weekly basis, both of these domains are consisently reinforced through one-to-one interactions. Orientation focused on the essential outcomes for kindergarten and first grade created by the classroom teachers, as well as on character development infused through scenarios and role playing. Monthly mentoring meetings continue throughout the year. The mentors presented their program to the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) in the spring of 2009, and the PTA now fiscally supports the program as a line item in the annual budget. This program has demonstrated a growth in academics and positive behaviors for all students involved.