The MICDS Peer-to-Peer (P2P) program is back in action for its seventh year straight, and after a few meetings already, it’s off to an impactful start! What is P2P? P2P is our student-created mentorship program where Upper Schoolers meet with seventh and eighth graders throughout the academic year to tackle important topics. The 2024-25 squad of Upper School mentors includes 60 students. These mentors are connecting six times during the year with each grade level in seventh- and eighth-grade advisory sessions. All of their time together is centered on the Peer-to-Peer Mission: empowering Middle School students to think critically, act responsibly, and nurture compassion.
In the words of Cade Miller ’26, the Upper Schoolers are trying to make the Middle Schoolers feel comfortable talking about what they have going on. “I hope to provide a space where the Middle Schoolers can open up in a way they feel comfortable with,” Cade said. “Middle School is a weird time for everyone, and with that comes challenges that some kids feel like they don’t have anyone to talk to about. I just want to make them feel comfortable talking about what’s going on in their lives and hopefully provide helpful advice from my experiences.”
What’s on the topic agenda for this year’s program? Check out the important themes per grade of each meeting’s conversations and activities:
| Seventh-Grade P2P Topics | Eighth-Grade P2P Topics |
|
|
Thus far, seventh graders have been guided by their Upper School mentors through conversations about self-esteem, healthy and unhealthy relationships, and boundaries.
Eighth graders and their mentors have discussed self-confidence, time management, collaboration, and interactions with teachers.
Prior to kicking off their first sessions, the Upper School mentors must complete training to help bolster their leadership and facilitation skills. Layla Gilbert ’26 explained the training experience. “P2P mentors participate in a two-hour-long orientation at the beginning of the school year where they go through different scenarios of what could happen in a classroom in middle school,” she said. “We also discuss the first lesson during this orientation and explain how to act as a mentor while still maintaining a friendly environment in the Middle School. Throughout the rest of the year, we have prep sessions on late-start days, which allow the mentors to have a fresh sense of what we will be chatting about with the seventh and eighth graders in the upcoming session or two.”
Of course, a lot of the training is actually just from past experience as a middle schooler. “The experiences that the mentors have had in middle school and are having in high school right now are [also] considered their training,” shared Morgan Macam ’26. “The best mentors are people who can use their experiences to help and support these younger children, which is why I think this program is so successful; high schoolers are not only able to connect with the middle schoolers as fellow students, but they can still have that ‘older sibling’ influence when giving advice.”
Getting to lead prep sessions has been one of Grace Coppel ’25’s highlights of the program thus far. “I enjoy reading over the upcoming conversations and helping prepare the mentors,” she shared. “I think this step before the actual conversations is crucial so that everyone is prepared for when we go speak to the middle schoolers.”
Every session begins with ice-breakers and team-building activities as the mentors establish a safe environment where all voices are heard, confidentiality is honored, and respect for diverse stories and opinions is key. They then guide discussions and more activities, all pertaining to the P2P topic.
The program is full of opportunities to learn and grow from one another as school peers and the Upper School mentors step up to lead for meaningful reasons. Gilbert said, “I joined P2P because I enjoy working with kids to help them learn and grow as teenagers and middle schoolers. Middle school is a harder time in most people’s lives, and it’s important to have someone older to look to for advice. I decided to become a P2P leader because I have some previous experience with leadership positions, and I liked the mission of the P2P program.”
Other upper schoolers, who had benefitted as middle schoolers from the peer-to-peer program, were inspired to complete a full circle of support by leading as mentors. “I’ve had the opportunity to be a P2P mentor for the Bander advisory twice this year,” Miller shared. “In 2021, I was a part of Mr. Bander’s first advisory along with a fellow P2P mentor. I can still remember the P2P sessions that took place there. Three years later, to be leading a discussion in my former advisory with an old fellow advisee is really special to me.”
“I joined P2P because I appreciated the guidance I received from the program during middle school, and I wanted to have the same impact on current middle schoolers,” said Joseph Walsh ’25. “I decided I wanted to be a leader because I wanted to be able to change the program where it needed updating to ensure that the middle schoolers were being taught lessons that applied to them. By the end of this year, I hope that I have left the program better than when I joined it and have given the next leaders and mentors the basis to make the program thrive. I know it will because we’ve found amazing new leaders who are more than prepared to handle the bulk of P2P’s responsibility.”
Coppell also joined after being inspired by P2P as a middle schooler, and she wants to help improve the program, too. “I joined P2P for many reasons, but one of the main reasons was because of my experience with the program in Middle School. I felt like the program was such a cool way to introduce the middle schoolers to Upper School life and just life in general,” she said. “I loved being able to just ask upper schoolers questions about anything that I was wondering about. However, I also saw room for improvement. I joined P2P to be a part of the program and have a chance to guide the middle schoolers based on my own experiences growing up. But, my objective in becoming a leader was to invest new ideas to improve the program and help grow it into something stronger.”
There are many more P2P sessions to look forward to throughout this school year and the conversations will only be building with a lot of energy to go around. “One of my favorite parts about P2P is the positive energy that the kids bring,” said Miller. “It could be 8:00 a.m. on a Monday, and they’d still be fired up for the conversation. It’s a great way to start the day.”
Morgan agreed. “This year, the kids have been so engaged and involved in our sessions, and they really are the ones that make the program so fun. We hope to keep making this a helpful and enjoyable experience that fosters relationships and prepares these students for high school.”