People who want to make a difference in their community should consider becoming a mentor for Cheney Public Schools.
There are currently 78 mentors, but the goal is to have 100-200 for the school district. Eastern Washington University students make up about 85 percent of the program. Mentors are needed for all grade levels, and would meet with their student weekly.
“I love EWU students because they come into schools in their EWU gear,” Jessica Deutsch, Cheney School District volunteer coordinator, said. “They can talk with kids about college. I love that part of it. Some of these kids do not even know somebody in college.”
The age requirement to become a mentor is 18 years old. The next step is to attend a two-hour training session. At the training, the volunteers will need to complete a Washington State Patrol (WSP) background check and a mentor application. They must also pass a national sex offender check.
“I definitely see positive outcomes,” Deutsch said. “Just thinking as a community, getting to know a student in your school district is important.”
Deutsch also tracks all the kids that are involved in the program by grades, behavior, course work and attendance. Last year, the district average for improving or maintaining attendance was 42 out of the 69 students tracked; for academics, 84 of 104 and for behavior (out- and in-school suspension) 65 out of 69 kids tracked.
For mentors at the elementary schools, they visit the students at lunch break for a one-on-one hour-long interaction. For middle and high school, mentors meet with their students for two hours after school in group activities and eventually spend time with them one-on-one.
The mentor program runs until the last week of May. It focuses more on relationships than academics between mentors and kids. The counselors at every school are the ones who decide which students are assigned a mentor.
Last year there were around 112 mentors, 96 percent said they personally benefited from their experience. About 93 percent of students felt that their mentor made a difference in their lives.
Anybody in the community and businesses can be involved. Dealer Auto Auction (DAA) located in Airway Heights, started in the program by adopting Sunset Elementary for the bikes-to-go program, and now nine employees visit the elementary school on their lunch break to be mentors to kids.
“We have more community members this year than ever, but I would love to see even more community members and more businesses be involved,” Deutsch said.
To become a mentor, contact Deutsch at [email protected] or at (509) 342-0747.
Grace Pohl can be reached at [email protected].
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