Central’s mentoring program, which pairs freshmen with upperclass mentors, has come under new leadership and has new goals in mind.
The mentoring program is organized by the Freshman Academy and its advisory board; with former Freshman Academy Lead Katherine Rude’s departure, current Freshman Academy Lead Martha Omar now runs the program. The program was started in 2022 and now includes 29 mentors and 34 mentees.
Omar said the program aims to ease the transition from middle school to high school, foster students’ social involvement to give students another reason to attend school, increase social confidence, and ultimately increase graduation rates. “You get to have an upperclassman that has some stake in your success,” Omar said.
Freshmen mentees are identified by teachers in the second quarter as students not involved in extracurricular or social activities at school. Omar has changed the program by being slower in identifying mentees until the second quarter.
“They’re just the kiddos that are here every day,” Omar said. “They just haven’t found a home yet where they feel comfortable.”
Mentors are upperclassmen, often previous mentees, and fill out an application. Omar said when many mentor seats need to be filled, the program is advertised; otherwise, teachers may encourage students to join.
“Sometimes it’s nice for me to even select sophomores I know have faced adversity in their education but have persevered through it,” Omar said. “[Students who have found high school easy] don’t have any humility or ability to tell the freshmen, ‘This is life. Life is kinda hard sometimes and we need to reach out to other people.’”
Mentors and mentees are paired up based on each one’s level of enthusiasm for the program, as well as getting along at the program’s first event.
The mentoring program aims to host a total of five events where mentors and mentees can interact, hear guest speakers, go on a field trip or perform community service.
Mentors may also visit their mentees and offer advice in Eagle Time or communicate outside of events.
Junior mentor Liebe Akue said more opportunities to meet with mentees and learn what support they need could be beneficial, as she and her mentee only interact at mentoring events or for major milestones.
“I feel like it’s a monthly thing,” freshman mentee Makiyah Wardlow said. “I don’t really feel like I see people in the program a lot.” Wardlow said connecting with her mentor could be easier if there were weekly interactions.
Yet the program still appears to be involving freshmen in the Central community and providing guidance.
“It is important because it is teaching young people to not just joke around in high school and do their work and take it serious[ly],” freshman mentee Ali Salah Hamadi said.
“I was kind of excited so I could be into something like in activities with other people,” Wardlow said. “Maybe [I would] meet new friends and get closer with people.” Wardlow said the program somewhat helped with that but that it did not help her transition into high school.
For the future of the mentoring program, Omar hopes to continue organizing five events a year with previous guest speaker Karla Avila Juarez as a staple visitor and to possibly partner with OPS elementary schools. Additionally, Omar hopes to recruit mentors in their sophomore year so there is a group of “veteran” mentors by senior year. Next year, Omar expects vacancies in the optimal 25 to 30 mentor spots.
“The future of the mentoring program is just a bunch of students who have gone through Central and just felt loved and supported,” Omar said. “Really the dream is that people just leave Central feeling like they were part of this community.”
