by Mikaela Smith
A middle school student’s transition to ninth grade can be challenging with more work, new rules and harder tests. Some kids breeze through the transition; others need support.
For freshmen who struggle with the hardships of high school, a mentoring program is offered during study halls. A second program, Varina Ladies Nation, is for girls only.
The original idea for the mentoring program came from retired science teacher Velma Shirey who was concerned about the number of freshmen being retained. In a Leadership Team meeting, she suggested that freshmen take a study hall instead of a seventh class.
Mr. Cody Streightiff determines which freshmen are placed in the mentoring program. During the summer, he looks at academic and behavior data for eighth graders at Elko and John Rolfe middle schools. Girls are placed in Varina Ladies Nation upon the recommendation of a counselor or administrator.
Mentors include physical education teacher Marianne Owens, exceptional education Biology II teacher Simona Strother, exceptional education social studies teacher Deonta Gail, English teacher JaNee Jones, counselor Lauren Woodward, exceptional education earth science teacher Marcella Armstrong and administrator Mr. Streightiff. Student tutors are also available in the study halls, which meet every other day.
Ms. Armstrong, who is also program coordinator, said the hardest part is motivating students, so she organizes incentives like field trips, a tour to VCU and certificates of recognition.
To track their progress, students complete a weekly self-evaluation. On Monday they look at their grades on HCPSLink, and they write down the work they need to complete for that week. There is also a nine-week progress report.
“Just seeing the kids improve makes me feel like I’m doing my part as a person in society,” Ms. Armstrong said.
Ms. Owens said the program benefits freshmen by teaching them study skills, the importance of values and tips for a successful school year.
Ms. Owens said a mentor should have patience, a sense of humor, empathy and the ability to motivate. She tries to get the students to talk with her about their goals.
“I just go haywire,” Ms. Owens said. “I act crazy. I act funny.”
Ms. Owens sees improvement in her students’ grades and participation when they work with a student tutor. She would like to have more seniors volunteer to tutor, but she has juniors she can depend on like Shelbi Woolfolk. Ms. Armstrong asked Shelbi to be a tutor one day in her study hall. Shelbi tutors four to five students in math during third block on Thursdays.
“I have really seen students’ grades improve,” Shelbi said.
She said helping students was difficult at first because they saw her as just another student.
“You have to act like an authority figure,” Shelbi said.
Freshman Austin Gillespie saw an improvement in his grades. He has second block with Ms. Strother where he gets his make-up work done.
Henrico County provides $5,000 for the mentoring program through a grant from Henrico Heroes, a county-wide effort to support students in middle school and ninth grade.
“The biggest thing that would be nice is if we had more volunteers with time to truly move to the one-to-one initiative,” Mr. Streightiff said. “Time is always the biggest issue.”
Mr. Steightiff said the program’s second year has been more successful than the first and gave credit to Ms. Armstrong for coordinating the program this year.
“I’d say the program has grown by leaps and bounds,” Mr. Streightiff said. “The teachers we’ve selected are great with kids.” “I’d say the program has grown by leaps and bounds,” Mr. Streightiff said. “The teachers we’ve selected are great with kids.”
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