It’s National Mentoring Month, and the Indian River School District (IRSD) is once again gearing up for its annual Mentoring Banquet, scheduled for Jan. 23.
At district headquarters, Mentor Delaware Coordinator Ryan Farrell said he’d devoted a good bit of time this week to organizing the event.
“I really hope they know they’re appreciated,” he said. “And I hope we didn’t forget anybody on the guest list,” he added with a dose of humor.
All kidding aside, Farrell said there was a lot of planning involved, but he thought there was a lot more he and his fellow coordinators could be doing to express their thanks to the mentors. “The banquet’s just a small token of our appreciation,” he pointed out.
It isn’t always easy, Farrell admitted. “Not every kid is going to be jumping up and down when their mentor shows up,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean they’re not getting through to them.”
He commended the local mentors for participating. “Certainly, part of that has to do with the large retiree population, and the retirees who volunteer their time,” he said. “But that’s not all of it. I think the program’s been so successful because this is just a very positive and responsive community.”
For instance, he said, many of district teachers actually gave up part of their planning periods to mentor students who might need a little extra attention.
“People want to do this,” he said. “They want to help.”
Tracy Hudson, the district’s Supervisor of Elementary Instruction, credited much of Frankford Elementary School’s recent successes to a strong mentoring program. Surprising for such a small school (with a student population of approximately 455), she said more than 140 mentors volunteered their time at the school.
“This school has been a leader in mentoring, and that’s really helped the students to be successful,” Hickman pointed out.
She credited Helping One Student To Succeed (HOSTS) Mentor Coordinator Reneé Clarke for helping raise the program to the next level.