The Role of Supportive Relationships
While preparing for college, middle-grades students gain much from the relationships they develop with individuals who have been successful in school and careers. Students who will be the first in their families to enroll in college often lack a social network that provides them with access to the resources, information, and experiences that make postsecondary participation possible. An expanded social network can also provide more affective benefits, such as inspiration to persevere through challenges and the willingness to take risks. Recognizing the importance of supportive relationships for middle-grades students, the programs in our study implemented a number of activities that allowed for students to interact with successful high school and college students, program staff, community members, and business leaders. Whether serving as tutors, workshop speakers, teachers, or formal mentors, these individuals present possibilities for students who are forming ideas of their future selves.
First-Generation Inspiration
The Bridges Project at Central Washington University (CWU) provides its middle-grades participants with ample opportunities to interact with CWU students. Education majors from CWU come into classrooms during the school day, provide one-on-one attention to struggling students, and occasionally teach a class. CWU students also staff a number of extracurricular activities, ranging from book clubs to drama clubs to a very popular video production club. Throughout the year, the project sponsors one-day festivals at the CWU campus for all seventh graders from a participating school in one of the five districts in its service area. CWU students develop and run the festivals, which are designed around engaging themes such as Pop Culture and Day of the Dead.
In all its activities, the project seeks to get younger students excited about attending college and to help them develop effective communication skills. Project staff views all of its college volunteers as mentors, being cognizant of their potential for both informing and inspiring students in the middle grades. The program staff deliberately recruits volunteers from different ethnicities and from the different majors represented at the college, so that all students in program can relate to someone. Program coordinator Veronica Gomez-Vilchis explains that many of the mentors are the first in their families to attend college and can address issues such as leaving home or breaking through cultural expectations for females. “Those connections are vital to our younger kids,” she says.
A Mentor for All Seasons
To run its robust mentoring program, the I Have a Dream (IHAD) program in East Palo Alto (California) recruits volunteers from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a local high school, and the surrounding community. Mentors commit to participating in the program for a minimum of two years, during which they will spend at least one hour helping students with school-related activities such as homework or science projects. Each pair also spends time together outside of school doing things of interest to the students, such as visiting the zoo, library, or local mall.
Program director Stacy Bluth is candid in discussing some of the program’s struggles with helping students develop strong relationships with their mentors. She explains that as students enter the middle-grades, they become more concerned with image and are sometimes disappointed to be matched up with older community members instead of with high school students. Bluth and the program staff are working with students to show respect to all the volunteers and to understand that everyone brings something of value to the student. A person who is 65-years old can tap into experiences, perspectives, and institutions that a 16-year old student cannot, she explains. “We are trying to teach students that every mentoring relationship can move them closer to their college and career goals.”
Sisterly Bonds
The Hermanitas (“Dear Sisters”) Program run by the Girl Scout Council of Cumberland Valley (Tennessee) serves Hispanic girls ages 8 to 14. Developed in 2000 by Teresa Nelson, Hermanitas targets girls who are not being reached by the traditional Girl Scout programs. Having come to the Unites States from Puerto Rico as a girl, Nelson understands the challenges faced by the predominantly Mexican immigrants in the program, which focuses on English language acquisition, careers and higher education, and establishing a positive sense of belonging and trust.
Nelson believes in the need for transparency for someone serving as a
role model to middle-grades students. She is not shy about sharing stories
of
mistakes she has made, or, more importantly, how she rebounded from them.
For instance, she tells students about quitting college during her first
year, because she lacked a sense of direction. After taking time off, she
examined her goals and came back with a clearer purpose. “I want to
make sure that the students understand that I am not a lofty figure up there,” she
asserts, because everyone will make mistakes along the way. She explains
that mentoring has always been a key part of the Girl Scout’s mission
and is taken very seriously, as leaders recognize that they have a chance
to guide the girls’ emotional growth.
