Mentors help Casa Grande freshmen navigate high school

A new program is designed to give incoming freshmen a leg up on their high school careers.|

A new program at Casa Grande High School is aiming to help freshmen transition effectively to the new opportunities and challenges of high school, pairing them with a diverse group of mentors from the junior and senior class for small-group meetings throughout the course of the year.

Popular at high schools around the country, the Link Crew program kicked off with a lighthearted orientation at the campus last Thursday. The inaugural event was optional, but still attracted around 75 percent of the 483 soon-to-be-freshmen to Casa Grande’s gymnasium during their final week of summer vacation.

A route to success

As he prepared to welcome his first freshman class as Casa Grande principal, Eric Backman, who previously spent several years focusing on the development of education pathway programs at the school, described the effort as part of a broader initiative to put incoming students on a route to success.

“Many studies show a successful first year is the most important factor in determining a trajectory of success in high school and beyond,” he said.

Thursday’s event kicked off like a high-energy pep rally, as Paul Koene, a school counselor and leader in launching the Link Crew program, led attendees through activities intended to push them outside of their comfort zone. Koene gave a high-level introduction to the variety of academic, athletic and club activities at Casa Grande, and encouraged students to take part.

“After four years of high school, you don’t want it to be four years about somebody else. You want it to be about you,” he said.

Attendees then broke into smaller groups of 10 to 12 students, with tours and a more intimate meet-and-greet led by Casa Grande juniors and seniors that had previously volunteered to be part of the program.

Hand-picked mentors

Recruitment for those group leaders began last year, with each required to submit an application and attend two five-hour training sessions this summer, said Mary Lim, a special education instructor at Casa Grande and another organizer in the Link Crew project. A total of 88 students signed on as mentors, a hand-picked group meant to represent a wide variety of backgrounds and personal interests.

The diversity of that group is a central aspect of the Link Crew program, with a goal of forging connections across social groups that can keep some high school students insulated from their peers during the course of their education, Lim said.

“We wanted students from all walks of life,” she said.

Assigned mentors are tasked with maintaining and ongoing dialogue with their group members throughout the year, discussing experiences in course work and the often daunting adjustment to social life as a young adult.

“They’ll just sit down and talk to them to check in. Hopefully because it’s a peer, not a teacher, they will feel more open,” Lim said.

The program is also seen to benefit the Link Crew leaders by empowering them to give back to their peers, she said.

“We tell them, you know this school. This is where you can make a difference,” Lim said.

Investment in early engagement

Casa Grande has a history of early engagement programs for students, boosted by a $1.25 million federal grant in 2007 to support the development of multi-year career pathways. Efforts have continued after that funding was exhausted, including an intense career readiness course for freshmen launched last year called “Success 101.”

The Link Crew curriculum is among the latest in those efforts. It is a product of The Boomerang Project, a private education company based in Santa Cruz that develops transition programs for middle and high schools.

Backman, the principal, said the addition of Link Crew helps balance more academic ventures for freshmen at Casa Grande.

“The focus is on relationships, and making sure that, from the first day of school, they feel like they matter,” he said.

(Contact Eric Gneckow at eric.gneckow@arguscourier.com. on Twitter @Eric_Reports.)

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