If you think of a mentor as a senior sage imparting wisdom and life lessons to a junior colleague, you may not feel qualified to become one. But in the Dubuque Community School District, a mentor serves primarily to role model a healthy relationship with an adult.
The District benefits from nearly 150 mentors and volunteers who work with students of all grade levels. Most mentors are paired with an elementary school student, starting in Kindergarten. Ideally, the relationship carries through the student’s entire elementary journey. The mentor provides consistent support and serves as a significant adult presence in the child’s life.
Mentoring helps students in so many ways. “A lot of times it brings out another side of the student. I have a kid that may have a very flat affect during the day, and then the second he sees his mentor it’s almost like you’re seeing a different kid, actively engaged and genuinely happy,” said Molly Markham, school counselor at Marshall Elementary. “You can see them grow in their desire to come to school, it can improve their attendance, and you can see just a change in how much joy they have at school, and you see them developing a good, strong relationship with another trusting adult which is pretty cool.”
Mentors typically meet with their mentee for one half-hour each week during the school year. All mentoring activities occur on school grounds and are directed by what the student wishes to do. Most students meet one-on-one with a mentor, but there are some small groups of three to five students that are paired with one mentor, allowing more children to benefit from the experience.
“We have so many kids that want mentors and that could really benefit from mentors,” said Markham. “I just have so many kids that are constantly asking me ‘How do I get a mentor?’ and so many of them would benefit from it for various reasons.”
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