Meaningful Mentoring Relationships
Administration is hopeful to combat lack of Latinos in higher education
By Tom Patterson
Administration is hopeful to combat lack of Latinos in higher education
By Tom Patterson
A new mentoring program will connect male Latino seniors with incoming freshmen of the same demographic in hopes of combating high dropout rates coupled with low attendance.
The Latino Male Mentor Group, which includes 15 freshmen and 15 senior mentors, will also include an emphasis on engaging with the Pioneer community, meeting every other Wednesday during FLEX period in room 306.
Principal Herbert Espiritu is enthusiastic about the new program serving as another method of academic assistance.
“(The program) was formed so that we can help our ninth grade Latino male students acclimate to high school in order to set them up for success,” said Espiritu. “Latino males are not progressing at a rate that the other demographics have progressed in our public school system, so we’re trying to create a program where we can help bridge that gap. ”
The student-driven program consists of seniors running the meetings, designing slideshows and planning lessons for their freshmen counterparts. As the first person in his family to apply to college, mentor Connor Moore, 12, believes that the Latino mentorship group would have helped him significantly with filling out his college applications had it existed when he was a freshman.
“Since I’m first generation, I didn’t really know about any of the college applications. I don’t know the process of how to get them, and I really didn’t know much about the FAFSA but through this, we teach them about that,” said Moore.
Mentor Christopher Ortiz, 12, also feels that his experience as a freshman would have been positively benefited had the mentoring program already formed.
“I wish we could have started earlier. The Latino community, especially at Pioneer, has been hidden for so long, so I feel like if we had this earlier, then we, as seniors, now would have felt more comfortable at the school,” said Ortiz.
The group focuses both on the social and academic aspects of high school. Some lessons primarily focus on clubs and sports, straying from other typical college centric meetings the group partakes in.
“We talked about the sports, the clubs that we’re in right now and the kind of things we do in those clubs or sports and how that affects us and how we connect to those clubs or sports,” said Ortiz. “We also break up into groups and in those groups we talk about private things — things that they can feel comfortable talking about.”
The meetings between the seniors and freshmen have proven successful with a consistent attendance rate of 80%. However, when discussing flaws in the program, Moore found that the brief time during FLEX to plan lessons, build slideshows and discuss topics can pose a challenge for mentors.
“It can be a little hard at times because the FLEX period is only 45 minutes, so you have to work quickly to plan through all this stuff that you want to teach the kids next week,” said Moore.
Fernando Viñas, 9, views the senior mentors as not only a source of academic support, but also as a friend.
“So far, Latino males have been one of the most struggling people in school. We all like to hang out, and if we need help, they’ll come and assist us,” said Viñas.
Alonso Teodoro Zamora, 9, has found a purpose through the mentoring program to work hard in his academic career.
“They motivate us to try hard in our classes — they make us plan our future too. They asked us if we want to go to college after high school,’” said Teodoro. “They just want to challenge us to take more AP classes to get college credits. It’s motivated me to actually try in high school.”
The Latino Male Mentor Group, which includes 15 freshmen and 15 senior mentors, will also include an emphasis on engaging with the Pioneer community, meeting every other Wednesday during FLEX period in room 306.
Principal Herbert Espiritu is enthusiastic about the new program serving as another method of academic assistance.
“(The program) was formed so that we can help our ninth grade Latino male students acclimate to high school in order to set them up for success,” said Espiritu. “Latino males are not progressing at a rate that the other demographics have progressed in our public school system, so we’re trying to create a program where we can help bridge that gap. ”
The student-driven program consists of seniors running the meetings, designing slideshows and planning lessons for their freshmen counterparts. As the first person in his family to apply to college, mentor Connor Moore, 12, believes that the Latino mentorship group would have helped him significantly with filling out his college applications had it existed when he was a freshman.
“Since I’m first generation, I didn’t really know about any of the college applications. I don’t know the process of how to get them, and I really didn’t know much about the FAFSA but through this, we teach them about that,” said Moore.
Mentor Christopher Ortiz, 12, also feels that his experience as a freshman would have been positively benefited had the mentoring program already formed.
“I wish we could have started earlier. The Latino community, especially at Pioneer, has been hidden for so long, so I feel like if we had this earlier, then we, as seniors, now would have felt more comfortable at the school,” said Ortiz.
The group focuses both on the social and academic aspects of high school. Some lessons primarily focus on clubs and sports, straying from other typical college centric meetings the group partakes in.
“We talked about the sports, the clubs that we’re in right now and the kind of things we do in those clubs or sports and how that affects us and how we connect to those clubs or sports,” said Ortiz. “We also break up into groups and in those groups we talk about private things — things that they can feel comfortable talking about.”
The meetings between the seniors and freshmen have proven successful with a consistent attendance rate of 80%. However, when discussing flaws in the program, Moore found that the brief time during FLEX to plan lessons, build slideshows and discuss topics can pose a challenge for mentors.
“It can be a little hard at times because the FLEX period is only 45 minutes, so you have to work quickly to plan through all this stuff that you want to teach the kids next week,” said Moore.
Fernando Viñas, 9, views the senior mentors as not only a source of academic support, but also as a friend.
“So far, Latino males have been one of the most struggling people in school. We all like to hang out, and if we need help, they’ll come and assist us,” said Viñas.
Alonso Teodoro Zamora, 9, has found a purpose through the mentoring program to work hard in his academic career.
“They motivate us to try hard in our classes — they make us plan our future too. They asked us if we want to go to college after high school,’” said Teodoro. “They just want to challenge us to take more AP classes to get college credits. It’s motivated me to actually try in high school.”