Student Mentoring Program Coming to FCHS
Thursday, November 1, 2018
by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer
Franklin County High School (FCHS) will soon launch a new program pairing students and adult mentors. There are a lot of students with limited experiences, said FCHS teacher Anna Mullin who designed the program, “students who have never left Franklin County.”
The program will match students and mentors with shared interests in the hope of broadening students’ horizons and offering them a nontraditional source of adult support. Mullin wants students to have the opportunity to connect to adults outside the typical parent-teacher dynamic.
Mullin also started the Transition from School to Work program at FCHS. “We engaged with students over several years. It took a while to get to the point where students would communicate, but eventually they began to reach out to us.”
Mullin served as a mentor in the Tennessee Promise college scholarship program, and while acknowledging the benefits, she regretted “there was no time for developing a relationship. I really served no purpose other than to send out reminders. My mentees didn’t stay in touch with me after they left the program.”
Mullin plans for mentors and mentees to have once a month contact through group activities such as hiking and going out to eat, “fun stuff,” she said. Mullin referenced a mentor-style program her son participated in at Sewanee Elementary School where University students were paired with SES students. “My son loved it.”
Those interested in serving as mentors should contact Mullin at <anna.mullin@fcstn.net> or by phoning FCHS, (931) 967-2821.
Potential mentors will participate in an orientation and those who decide to continue in the program will undergo a background check followed by mentor training.
“We’ll need to pay for the background checks,” Mullin said. Several area churches are considering funding the program. Mullin also plans to reach out to area businesses for financial support as well as for potential mentors.
“The mentor program is not a religious initiative,” Mullin stressed.
Mullin emphasized in the planning stages a program “needs to be reflective of many groups.”
The working committee assisting with developing the program includes FCHS Principal Roger Alsup as well as Chelle Daniels (STEM teacher); Angelia Hannah (resources English teacher); B. J. Mathis (youth pastor at Winchester Cumberland Presbyterian Church); Eric Vanzant (director of the Campora Family Resource Center); Brenda Welch (FCHS guidance counselor); and Urla Wolkonowsky (current director of the FCHS Transition from School to Work program).
Alsup signed on as supervisor of the project in its incipient stages. “The project never would have gotten off the ground without his help,” Mullin said. The committee both provides feedback and engages in planning, taking on tasks that range from identifying curriculum resources to funding.
Mullin has appealed to the Franklin County School Board for assistance in addressing legalities such as transportation and mentors engaging with students in non-group settings.
Students will be invited to apply for the program based on referrals from guidance counselors, teachers, and school administrators. “They have a good handle on who will benefit,” Mullin said.
Mullin plans for the first mentor orientation to take place in November with the first mentor-mentee activity occurring before the Christmas break.
Mullin came to education after several other careers and acknowledges in the past “I felt like I was only working to make money.”
“The over arching goal of the program is for mentors and mentees to develop a long term relationship that extends beyond high school. I want to make a difference.”