COLUMBIANA HOSTS gets national recognition
Crestview's HOSTS program has 57 pupils and 107 volunteer mentors.
COLUMBIANA -- In its third year, Crestview Elementary's HOSTS program has received national recognition.
HOSTS (Helping One Student to Succeed) recognized Crestview Elementary's language arts mentorship program with its highest quality award, the HOSTS Award for Quality Assurance.
What it is
HOSTS is a nationwide structured mentoring program in language arts, math and Spanish that targets kindergarten through 12th-graders who need assistance in reading, writing, thinking and study skills.
Crestview's HOSTS program was designed to mentor kindergarten through fourth-graders in language arts.
Schools Superintendent John Dilling said the program now has 57 participants and 107 volunteers.
Dilling said HOSTS makes the award by ranking several critera such as pupils' grade improvement and changes, if any, in their overall feeling about school or specific subject areas.
Crestview Elementary's HOSTS program began in the 2000-01 school year and was funded by an OhioReads grant.
The coordinator is Nancy Tompkins.
The program was expanded this year to include kindergarten pupils.
There are now 57 pupils and 107 mentors, Dilling said. He said the school will honor mentors at a recognition dinner April 24.
Who is chosen
Tompkins said pupils chosen for the HOSTS program are those who test below grade level in reading skills. She said all pupils in the program last year improved, some by as much as two grading levels.
Volunteers range from high school students to retirees, Tompkins said. Some pupils give up their recess time to participate in the program, she said.
Among the volunteers are Crestview teachers and administrators, many of the former giving up their free periods to participate, she said.