Transitioning students to schools is becoming one of the most important steps in increasing the graduation rate in our country. Educators know the challenge of socially and academically acclimating students to school, especially in the ninth grade. Nationally, close to half of all freshmen are not graduating from High School. Therefore, transitioning and retaining students is a crucial concern for most public schools.

 

Ignite will collaborate with your building staff to select and train a number of mentors from your student body of upperclassmen. These mentors will provide yearlong guidance to their mentees (incoming students). They will help further the goals and objectives of your building and partner with teachers and administrators to support the successful transition of your incoming students.

 

The yearlong commitment of each mentor creates a consistent and positive relationship with each incoming student that encourages learning and growth. Adapting to your schedule, the mentors check in with their mentees frequently so they may continue to provide them with tools for success. Most importantly, the mentee/mentor relationship is symbiotic, fostering leadership development and friendships that last a lifetime

• Help create an infrastructure to support a sustainable peer mentoring initiative
• Provide over 12 hours of on-site training before the school year begins in order to increase personal effectiveness, communication and listening skills
• Use low ropes activities to improve facilitation techniques and processing-type discussion skills
• Facilitate 8 scheduled training sessions: 12-15 hours of additional training throughout the school year
• Assist in monthly and bi-monthly trainings on Ignite Lesson Plans for incoming students, which utilize various learning strategies such as Cornell Notes and the use of the 4 Keys from Smart & Good Schools research
• Provide support to teachers by organizing and facilitating study sessions for their students and aid in teacher-student communication and student led conferencing
• Promote the mentor's social interaction with new students who may otherwise be left alone
• Help mentors maintain a yearlong relationship with each of their 4-5 mentees.
• Expand each mentor's network, ongoing training, and coaching through a secure social website with other mentors from their building and around the country: IgniteNation.org