By Yesenia Lopez Torres
Staff Writer
At Summit Preparatory Charter High School, community is a very important, so the school does different things to strengthen its community, such as camping trips and taking the students to visit colleges. The biggest thing Summit Prep does that strengthens their community is the mentoring program.
Mentor groups are a unique part of Summit Prep. Mentor groups usually meetup every day for 10 minutes so students can talk about their day and go over things such as important deadlines and projects that need to be completed.
Summit Prep freshman Ethan Sheppy said he felt closer to his fellow mentees after going on the camping trip. “I definitely feel closer because I didn’t know anyone going into my mentor group, and now I feel really close connections,” he said.
Summit Prep freshman Daniel Garcia also agreed that the camping trip made him feel closer to his fellow mentor group members. “I think that I am more comfortable with them cause like they’re all nice.”
On Fridays, there are no regular classes and mentor groups spend all day with each other to reinforce the bond that the group has with each other.
Mentor groups are also supposed to support students and not let students fall behind throughout their four years of high school. They’re also there for mental support when students need it.
When Sheppy was asked about how his fellow mentor group members and mentor support him, he answered, “Really just emotional support because I’m really on track with everything.” Although every student is different and needs support in different areas, the mentor group will support them through everything.
Mentors also teach their mentees important skills that they will benefit from not only in high school but even after in their daily lives. “Basically, eat right, make sure you treat other right, especially your parents ‘cause they pay for everything, and take care of yourself first before you try to save anybody else,” Michael Feeney, Summit Prep math teacher and freshman mentor, said.
Mr. Feeney agrees a lot with the mentoring program and wishes that he had this opportunity when he was in high school. “They don’t really have anybody telling them what’s coming from the future, usually high school kids just talk with other high school kids about the future from other high school kids who don’t really know what’s gonna happen,” he said.
Teenage years can be very frustrating, especially when you are in school, but when teens feel like they have someone to lean on, many feel less stressed. Garcia said that his favorite part of the mentor group is that everyone supports each other.
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