Celebrating Student Leaders During National Mentoring Month

Did you know that January is National Mentoring Month?

We celebrated some of our middle school mentors at the January 8 school board meeting—Quetzalli Cardoso and Axel Klemme from Heritage E-Stem Magnet School and Vivienne Douah and Sol Mogelson from Friendly Hills Middle School. These students were nominated by school staff for being WEB Leader mentors, but also for their time as volunteers, tutors, caring classmates, and creating a positive and supportive environment within their school communities.

Their nominators shared many similar qualities these students regularly demonstrate: They are always the first to volunteer or offer support to new students, school counselors, and younger classmates. They are friendly faces for students who may need peer-to-peer support and go the extra mile to help everyone feel welcome within their school community.

"Quetzalli is super important to our WEB Program not only for her Spanish-speaking abilities but also for the positivity she brings every day...I think that is a huge benefit to our school and community," shared Heritage staff member and nominator.

When asked by the board why they enjoy mentoring, Axel shared: "I like to be someone who people look up to so that when they're in my position when they're older, they want to help people, too."

Quetzalli, Axel, Vivienne, and Sol are all WEB Leaders, a transition and mentoring program for fifth-graders entering middle school. WEB involves eighth-grade students trained as leaders and mentors to help welcome and develop positive friendships with new fifth-grade students. When asked about their favorite part of the program, here's what our student-leaders had to say:

"Helping kids feels good and knowing that they have someone to look up to and count on is nice." - Vivienne, Friendly Hills

"I just like working with kids...you get to spend time with the kids. You see them in the halls, they say hello. You can tell it makes their day and it makes my day." - Sol, Friendly Hills
"I just love to be around fifth and sixth graders to help with anything they might need." -Quetzalli, Heritage

Please help us celebrate Quetzalli, Axel, Vivienne, and Sol as they continue to make a positive impact each day with our younger students.