When retired teacher Ken Gouveia was brought on at Linus Pauling Middle School for a long-term substituting job this fall, it was a chance to do something he’d never had time for previously in his teaching career: starting a peer mentorship program.
Gouveia, who taught at Western View Middle School in Corvallis before it was folded into Linus Pauling, said there are things he can’t do as a substitute, like some state testing, which gave him the time to bring an idea he’d had for years into being.
His concept was relatively simple: student volunteers, mostly eighth graders, are excused from two or three gym classes or study periods during the week and they spend the time working with students who need extra help. The mentors sit with students who have trouble staying on task in class, or help them with their class work one-on-one in a hallway or a study area. Teachers make recommendation for which students might need mentors in their class, or for which kids might make good mentors.
Gouveia said the student mentors are close enough in age to the people they are helping that they are able to relate to them and assist them in a way that adults can’t without a lot of training. Gouveia added that with class sizes as large as 37, it is hard for teachers to give every student attention.
“Some kids just need someone to connect with,” he said.
The benefit is not one sided either, according to Gouveia. The mentors gain self esteem, and they learn (or relearn) the material as they teach it to other students.
The peer mentoring program began in early December, and Gouveia said there is anecdotal evidence that mentored students are improving their school work habits.
“These kids have worked miracles,” he said.
Gabe Murk, a seventh-grader at the school, was one of the first students to have mentors.
“I used to dread coming to school, like a lot of kids do” Gabe said. “Now I kind of look forward to it.”
Gabe said before he had mentors, he did very little of his school work and would often not go to class or would act out, but he’s now doing most of his work.
“It’s been really helpful,” he said.
Gouveia said the mentors have helped Gabe become a responsible student.
“He’s a happy kid now, and he wasn’t a happy kid before.”
Gabe and his mentors, whom he has in many of his classes, will often work outside of class on school work. If Gabe gets his work done, his mentor can decide to allow him a little free time for them to walk around the school together, or work on disassembling and reassembling broken computers in the lab, which Gabe enjoys.
“I’m teaching them a lot (about computers),” Gabe said.
Jonathan Ely, an eighth-grader at the school, mentors Gabe humanities.
“It’s fun,” he said. “It’s been really cool getting to know Gabe.”
Gouveia said there are many bright students such as Gabe who don’t thrive in a traditional classroom, but the mentoring program gives them another way to be engaged at school.
“They build connections in school. That’s almost as important for some kids as getting work done,” Gouveia said.
Jonathan said he often greets Gabe in the hallway, and he’s told a lot of his friends about Gabe, and they now greet him, too.
Gouveia said the school has about 65 student mentors, and a waiting list of students wanting to be mentors.
While some students such as Gabe are spending part of their mentoring time outside of class, Gouveia said the program is still getting them to improve their work habits and behavior overall. Gouveia said the school staff hope to transition students with mentors from working outside of class, to having assistance in class, and then to not needing mentors at all.
“It’s about making small steps,” he said.
Gouveia’s substituting position ended Thursday, but Linus Pauling Principal Eric Beasley, said the school administration is committed to continuing the program.
“Our teachers are seeing positive impacts,” Beasley said.
According to Beasley, the school counselors will be able to continue the program, and they will bring Gouveia in once a month to support the program.
Gouveia said he is confident the program will succeed in the long term and be sustainable.
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