As incoming freshmen walk nervously throughout the school hallways they can rely on their mentors to help guide them to the right path. Nobody wants to navigate high school alone, especially not as a freshman. That’s why the mentoring program is such a huge asset for the school.
Many students feel anxious about starting high school. Whether it’s finding a way in a new building or having to have classes with upperclassmen, high school scares many. The mentoring program was created to help ease the transition between middle school to high school. Students applying to become mentors submitted their final forms on April 6 at 11:55 PM.
“I enjoyed getting to help the incoming freshman feel more comfortable about their transition to high school,” first year mentor Kaylynn Kremer (10) said.
To apply, students first filled out a Google Form which was available in Schoology. The Google Form asks various questions about things like what the applicants’ extracurriculars are, if they are a new mentor or returning mentor, and if they are willing to help with special needs students. All of these questions are required and are needed to get applicants through essentially the “first round” of the application process.
“Kids basically tell us what they’re involved in, why they want to be a mentor etc;” Erica Thomas, lead counselor for the mentor program, said.
After completing the first page of the google form application students must then submit a video of themselves basically introducing themselves, who they are, what they do etc;.
There is a list of requirements for this video which include the following: the video must be no longer than 2 minutes, student’s name (First Name and Last initial), current grade, if the student is a new mentor applicant or returning mentor applicant, explain why (motivation) students wants to be a freshman mentor, what skills/talents/strengths does the students possess that would make them an asset to the freshman mentoring program, and include any current extra-curricular activities.
Students can also choose to put certain students they want in their mentor group. These could be students they know or ones they want to become better acquainted with. The video isn’t shared with anybody else besides the counselors reviewing it.
“It was a fun experience getting to know my mentees and the incoming class,” Kremer said.
Even though students have already completed their Google Form application they will have to wait until at least May to know whether or not they’ve been accepted into the program. There is a small committee which consists of the school counselors that look over and watch each student’s application. This helps to ensure that the right people are chosen for the mentoring program.
It is a long process that can take a couple of weeks which is why the school gives the counselors their April grace period to look over the applications and help plan for their next steps for the summer.
“We use the month of April to go through all the videos and all the applications and we notify the mentors when they are chosen. And then in May we have a planning meeting where we talk about all the logistics that occur,” Thomas said.
Over the summer, the mentors have duties they must tend to. Mentors are required to go to Nest Fest (high school transition days), where they welcome all of the 8th graders that are finally arriving at high school. On top of that, they also have an event (which is not required) where a select handful of the mentors go to welcome new students (10-12) that are brand new to Fort Thomas and Highlands High school. Mentors can also choose if they would like to work with special needs students (not required). This simply helps with incoming freshman placement on the mentor’s roster.
“Mentors create a letter that they send to all their assigned freshmen over the summer that basically welcomes that student to Highlands high school, it allows the mentor to introduce themselves and then it sort of talks about the logistics of what’s going to happen during Nest Fest days,” Thomas said.
Freshman mentors are held at a higher standard than a normal student. They are the leaders of the high school, so teachers and students alike expect their absolute best. If mentors do not uphold themselves to this standard they will be subject to removal from the program. The freshman mentoring program is an amazing opportunity for all students to participate in their school community. The mentoring program provides ways to establish connections with students and teachers, and can help students grow academically and professionally.
“It was really meant to be a way for our students to mentor and kind of hand the baton off to those incoming freshmen on what they wanted that high school experience to feel like for the incoming freshman,” Thomas said.