Hoover schools ready to expand mentoring program

When the Hoover school system started a mentoring program for students in the fall, Frederick McCrary happily agreed to serve as a mentor when asked.

“I feel like I have a lot to offer kids,” McCrary said. “I love being a mother, and I felt like I can share this love with somebody else’s baby.” Her son is a sixth-grader at Bumpus Middle School, but McCrary agreed to mentor a sixth-grade girl at Simmons Middle School.

They meet once a week for 30 minutes. They talk about a variety of subjects, and McCrary helps the girl with homework and study tips when she needs it. She noticed the girl she was mentoring was tired a lot, so she recommended some schedule adjustments.

“She was so used to going to bed at 10 o’clock at night,” McCrary said. McCrary suggested the girl try going to bed at 8:30 p.m. and gave her advice on what to eat for breakfast to get a good boost of energy for the day ahead and be able to come to school fresh and ready to think.

The advice seems to be helping, McCrary said. “She really has made a lot of changes.”

McCrary said she also has offered the girl advice on how to properly address people and how to respond to people who aren’t being nice to her.

The experience has been good for both her and the girl, she said.

She believes she is helping teach the girl skills that can help her in her daily life now and carry her through life so she can continue to grow as a person.

That’s exactly what Hoover school board member Deanna Bamman had in mind when she led the effort to start the program.

‘THAT EXTRA PERSON’

The first thought was that there are so many children facing crises or difficult situations, such as being bullied, losing a parent, or struggling academically or socially. Other children might just need some help in a particular area, such as dealing with anxiety or anger, said Ashlee Webster, the sixth-grade counselor at Simmons.

School counselors and teachers identify children who could use extra assistance, but not every child chosen to receive a mentor is struggling, Webster said. “Anybody could benefit from having an extra person in their life — someone else in their court rooting for them,” she said.

That’s especially true in middle school because middle school can be a tough time for kids, Webster said.

While children have parents, teachers and counselors who love them, sometimes it helps to have someone outside the home and from outside the school listen to them, encourage them and be a role model for them, Webster said. “Just having that extra person is awesome.”

School officials will notify parents that their child is eligible for the mentoring program and are asked if they would like for their child to participate. After parental permission is given, students are paired with an adult for 30-minute one-on-one talks once a week at the school during the school day, Bamman said.

Frequently, the students are paired with adults who share similar interests or who may have struggled with similar issues when they were younger, she said.

Mentors go through an application and screening process and are asked questions to help determine good connections with students. However, there is a great deal of confidentiality, and mentors may not always know why they were selected to mentor a particular student, Bamman said.

Right now, the program is in the pilot stage at four schools: Simmons Middle School and Green Valley, Riverchase and Rocky Ridge elementary schools. Bamman said.

Twenty-six mentors went through the first wave of training and began meeting with students in November, and now about 85 to 90 mentors have been trained, said Kandace VanWanderham, the mental health and student services specialist for Hoover City Schools who is working with Bamman to coordinate the mentoring program.

About 70 of those already have been matched with children, VanWanderham said.

BEING ONE MORE POSITIVE LIGHT

Sonia Carrington, the former principal at Rocky Ridge Elementary School, is one of the mentors. She already had signed up at her church, Shades Mountain Baptist Church, to serve on an encouragement team for teachers and staff at Green Valley Elementary School and found out about the mentoring program through that connection.

She was paired with a fifth-grade girl at Green Valley and has been meeting once a week with her since the fall. “It is going great,” Carrington said.

They talk about all kinds of things and share different life experiences, she said. But they don’t just talk. She also does activities with the girl. They’ve made fluffy slime, bookmarks and stress balls out of balloons and rice, Carrington said.

A couple of the projects turned out to be flops, but that was OK, she said. “They learn how to make lemonade out of lemons.”

Carrington asks the girl she is mentoring to write about their activities and gives her tips on how to write a story. She then asks the girl to read what she has written, which gives her practice with both writing and speaking.

Carrington’s mentee even presented one of her stories to the school counselor and principal. “She felt so good about herself,” Carrington said.

It appears the girl is enjoying the experience, she said. “She hugs me when she sees me. She hugs me when we leave, and she says she can’t wait til next week.”

The mentoring program also has been rewarding for Carrington. As a retired educator, she knows children can be impacted by a role model or someone who nurtures them.

“I want to be one of those people,” she said. “I want to make a difference in a child’s life and be one of the positive lights in her life.”

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS, CONNECTIONS

Patti Tanner, the counselor at Riverchase Elementary, said the 20 or so mentors at her school do a variety of activities with students, such as reading books, playing math games, coloring, crafts and board games.

It doesn’t matter so much what the activity is; the important thing is that they are building relationships with students so they can be a source of encouragement for the children, Tanner said.

Research has shown that when children feel a connection with people at school, it helps with both their academic performance and personal growth, she said.

Teachers let mentors know if there is a specific area where a child needs help, such as reading or math, but what happens in the mentoring sessions often depends on the direction the child takes, Tanner said. “It’s very much child-centered and childled,” she said.

The program is still in its infancy, but Tanner said she already can see a little bit of growth in the children — in some cases a little more confidence.

“I just know the children are very excited to know their mentor is coming,” Tanner said. “The children and mentors both seem to enjoy the experience.”

If both the mentor and mentee want to continue the relationship, school officials say they likely will allow that when the child moves to the next grade and perhaps the next school. But each pairing will be re-evaluated each year, based on the needs of both the student and the mentor, VanWanderham said.

The plan is to eventually expand the mentoring program to all Hoover schools, but VanWanderham said they plan to advance gradually and try to make improvements as they grow. For the 2020-21 school year, they would like to add four or five more schools, which probably would require 75 to 100 more mentors, she said.

More training will be done this summer as additional mentors are added.

While students now are selected by counselors for potential participation, Bamman said she hopes that in the future parents can request for their child to have a mentor. Sometimes, students may appear to be functioning well at school but are struggling at home, and the parent knows the need, she said.

All students are paired with a mentor of the same gender, and there is a particular need for male mentors, Bamman said. For every female student who needs a mentor, there are eight male students who do, she said. And right now, there are more female adult volunteers than male volunteers, she said. So the volunteer pool is not matching with the needs.

It’s really a great opportunity for adults to help change the life of a child, especially retired adults who may have more free time during the school day, Bamman said. It helps give adults a sense of purpose, she said.

McCrary concurred.

“We want all children to be successful moving forward,” she said. “If you can reach just one and have some kind of communication, it makes a difference.”

Anyone who would like to become a mentor or find out more about the program can call the Hoover school system central office at 205-439-1000 or send an email to rise@hoover.k12.al.us.