New program gives 9th-graders role models

Mentors are asked to give two hours of their time each week for one year.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The U.S. military isn't the only one looking for a few good men.
The Youngstown City School District wants 150 of them to enlist in a new mentoring program aimed at ninth-grade boys.
Dr. Wendy Webb, superintendent, said she has 50 signed up so far but wants 50 for each of the district's three high schools.
The mentoring program targets the ninth-grade dropout rate. That's the point where some young people, entering the high school atmosphere for the first time, begin to fail, Webb said.
Outside influences become a bigger distraction for them, and being smart may no longer be considered cool. They tend to live in the moment, and, once they begin to fail, they don't believe they can succeed, she said.
Partnership
Many children come from single-parent families, and the idea is to pair some of those young men with positive male role models who can assist them in adapting to and passing the ninth grade while improving their academic performance and personal development, she said.
The school district has formed a partnership with the local Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization to help with tutoring, program insurance costs and the cost of some activities, Webb said.
The schools don't operate in isolation, she said, explaining that Youngstown needs to build "a learning community."
Getting adult men to forge relationships with ninth-graders is one way to do that. Children need adults in their lives who will believe in them, talk to them and support them, she said.
What is needed
She's asking mentors to give two hours a week for one year to the effort.
Each will meet with his ninth-grader once a week at a designated location, play basketball and other games to connect with the teen, and take part in a weekly teaching program from a given curriculum.
The meetings would be reduced to one per month during the summer, though the mentor would be expected to call or send a card to his pupil at least biweekly.
Youngstown needs to get a critical mass of kids swinging back into believing that being smart is cool, Webb said.
Kids in poverty don't see the opportunities out there and perceive they have a glass ceiling that they can't rise above. The district wants to work with and tutor them in hopes of keeping them in school and succeeding, she said.
A mentor has to be someone who can be counted on and trusted by the child placed in his charge.
Mentors must be at least 21 years old, pass a criminal background check and drug screen, complete an application packet and interview, and attend a one-day team-building program with their assigned pupil.
Webb first took her request for mentors to area faith-based organizations but isn't limiting the program to participants from that segment of society. Any responsible man who is willing to give of himself and his time is welcome, she said, noting that some fraternities at Youngstown State University have expressed interest in the program.
The district will create a similar mentoring program for girls, and some YSU sororities are already asking about that, Webb said.
Youngstown already has a small mentoring program in place, but only for middle-school girls, she said.
gwin@vindy.com