Upper School students enthusiastically kicked off the 2019-2020 season of Peer to Peer Mentoring this week, visiting 7th and 8th graders in the Middle School. After meeting for training and planning, the older students spent time in 8th grade advisories on Monday and 7th grade advisories on Thursday.
The Mission of the program is that Upper School students will share knowledge with Middle School students so their younger classmates have the necessary information about relationships and making healthy decisions so they can be more prepared for Upper School and beyond.
MacKenzie Macam ’20 is a co-head of the program. She said, “I was inspired to help lead this program because I know how scary Middle School can be for some students, especially coming in new at 7th grade. I also have a sibling in the Middle School, so I get first-hand experience about what she is going through. Middle school is such a crucial point in a student’s life, and my hope is that our mentors will share their own stories about the lessons they’ve learned throughout their time in both middle and high school. This year, my goal for the program is to continue building relationships with the Middle School students while making sure they know that although Middle School is tough, it will get better!”
Monday’s lesson began with introductions and an ice breaker before moving into a review of what the 8th graders learned about self-respect last year. The mentors reminded their younger classmates about how self-respect is defined, the importance of respecting yourself and how that affects your relationship with others and creating a positive circle of influence. Then students participated in an activity designed to share compliments from peers about each student.
On Thursday, the 7th graders learned about the program and heard some guidelines and rules for sharing their time together. Then the Upper School students introduced the concept of self-respect and led a vibrant discussion before leading the peer-compliment activity.
There are six meetings scheduled for this year, which will cover a variety of topics such as healthy relationships, communication styles, technology and social media, stress and anxiety, and healthy decision-making.