Feb 1, 2022 5 min read

CHARLEROI – A mentorship program in place at Charleroi Area Middle School is receiving accolades at the state level.

Middle School Success: The Path to Graduation (P2G) is a process designed to build the capacity in which middle school students identified as having emotional behavioral disorders in achieving high school graduation and decreasing the likelihood of dropping out before graduating.

“It’s a mentorship program designed specifically for our emotional support students,” explained Adam Brewer, middle school principal. “Our teachers have been trained on how to be mentors. We haven’t saved everybody, but we’ve got a pretty high rate of success in regard to the mentorship program.”

Students who may be at risk are identified by recognizing certain patterns such as decreasing attendance, behavioral issues or academic struggles. They are paired with a mentor, a person with whom they can establish a relationship.

“Building relationships is so important,” Brewer said. “That’s the No. 1 priority of our teachers to our students. Those relationships with the students and their families are what’s going to make or break the student.”

Tara Johnson, a counselor at the middle school, is a member of the P2G team at the school. She sees great benefits to the program.

“It’s a wonderful program to really follow and track what all the kids need and individualize and help them to grow to be more successful,” she said. “Seeing the kids have success, it changes everything for them all the way around. Professionally that’s what you want for every kid. This program allows us to see some growth from kids who were really struggling.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Bureau of Special Education will honor the middle school for the program at the P2G ceremony at its conference March 3 in Hershey.

“We don’t do it for the recognition; we do it for our kids,” Brewer said of the honor. “But anytime I can recognize my staff – because they are the ones that are on the front lines, they’re the ones that are out there with these kids – that’s the most important thing.”

This is the fourth year of the program at the school, which was initiated with the help of a three-year state P2G grant.

Brewer said the program is patterned after the teachings of Rita Pierson, an educational advocate known for her “Every Child Needs a Champion” philosophy. With that in mind, the mentorship program at Charleroi Area Middle is called Becoming a Champion.

“It’s based on an early warning system,” Brewer said. “We look at data from attendance, behavior and academics. The level the student is deemed at risk, that’s the level of support we give them.”

The teachers do a great job at identifying students who may be at risk, which has come about from training through Intermediate Unit 1. Plus, there is a great deal of communication between teachers and counselors and staff to identify students who may need mentorship.

There’s also curriculum in place that can be used to help the student grow socially, a task that’s become a bit more difficult amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brewer hopes to eventually expand the program to more students throughout the district.

“We have a lot of students in our district that could really use a support system like that,” he said. “Our teachers know our students best and they will mentor the students to a point where they can help to build self-confidence in those kids.”

There already is a mentorship program in place at the high school called Just One. Brewer feels that since the high school and middle school are in the same building that mentorship of the students does not have to end once they move on to the high school.

Sharon Markovich, a teacher at the middle school, had just come from meeting with a high school student whom she continues to mentor. She said that student comes to meet her sporting a big smile, something that to her is very gratifying.

“It’s made a world of difference,” she said of P2G. “It gives kids that connection to school and always knowing that someone is in their corner. I think that’s what they really need,”

“Our goal is to help any kid that is at risk,” Brewer added. “We want to make sure they know they have a place where people care about them. Some of the students that we had who are very successful with their mentor, they are still mentors for those kids. The ultimate goal is to pass them on to another mentor, but if it’s working, we don’t change that.”

And Brewer said it is working.

“The students keep coming back to their mentors,” he said. “They have a high level of comfort with their mentors. Our teachers are connecting with our students on a higher level than they have before. Our No. 1 goal as educators is to be advocates for students and this program fits in with that goal. “