Describing basic implementation of the University of Minnesota's Check and Connect mentoring program for school-based mentors at a Florida high school.

1. Teacher Mentor
Program
for At-Risk Students
Strawberry Crest High School
2013-2014

2. At-Risk Students
• As of 9/30/13, 65 students on the list
• Consists of Grades 9-11
• Senior at-risk students are being
mentored by administration and
guidance

3. Folders
• Need to be kept relatively secure
• Student profile
• Student CUM info
• Info packet
• Monitoring forms
• Intro letter

4. To add:
• Info from Kristina Miller on mentoring
• Last progress report

5. Mentoring Program
• Pilot school for implementing the
UMinn “Check and Connect” program
• Checks on students: grades,
attendance, behavior, and
engagement
• Connects with students to offer
individualized interventions that
partner with other teachers, family,
community

6. Student Engagement
• commitment to and investment in
learning
• identification and belonging at school
• “bottom line” of school completion

7. 4 Components
• An assigned mentor
• Regular Checks
• Timely interventions to enhance
social and academic competencies
and establish/maintain connection to
school
• Family engagement

8. Core Elements
• Relationships
• Problem-solving and capacity-building
• Persistence Plus

9. Relationship Element
• Focus on alterable variables
• Personalized, data-based
interventions
• Long-term commitment (if possible)
• Encourage participation in and
affiliation with school to connect them
with positive peers and caring adults

10. Problem Solving
• Facilitating the problem-solving
process
• Build student capacity to teach the
skills to solve problems and resolve
conflict on their own

11. Persistence Plus
• Persistent source of academic
motivation
• Continuous familiarity with their
situation
• Consistent message that education is
important to their future

12. Mentors have the:
• belief that students can learn, make
progress in school, change their
engagement level, and succeed
• willingness to persist with students
despite their behavior and decision-
making
• belief in the value of problem-solving
WITH students to develop personal
competencies

13. Working with
Families• Essential that you make contact with
the family
• Act as a liaison between home and
school
• Connect families to resources
• Inform parents/guardians of student
progress
• More ideas in your info packet

14. Resources
• Don’t reinvent the wheel!
• Connect students to existing
resources (i.e. after school tutoring,
migrant programs, etc. - basic list
included in your folder)
• If you don’t know what’s available for
a specific situation, contact Hillary
Gale.

15. A Firm Reminder
• You are a mentor to help students
reach educational goals
• You are NOT a social worker,
psychologist, therapist, law officer,
etc. - refer those needs
• Focus on alterable variables - things
that can be changed

16. Requirements
• Connect with the student formally at least once
per month (sample conversation in your info
packet)
• Record your session(s) on a monitoring form
(collected the last Friday of every month during
HR or 6th period - or put in Gale’s mailbox)
• Focus on goal-setting (REACH goals in your info
packet)
• Follow through - be the reliable adult in that
student’s life

17. Your Info Packet
• connecting with families
• connecting with your student
• helping you help your student set
goals to improve
• intervention options for specific
situations

18. My Job
• provide you with information to help you do
your job to the best of your ability
• connect you and your student with resources
• inform you of options/available interventions
• collect and organize data you provide me with
about your student to identify trends that we
can address on a school-wide basis
• act as YOUR liaison

19. Questions?