Leo Shedden, the leader of our STRIVE Mentor group, worked with Marissa Bailey-Johnson (Pathways counselor) in arranging to have the Pathways to Success seniors and the Ann Arbor Rotary Club mentors meet in groups of 2 students for about 10-15 minutes on November 9, 2018 and December 14, 2018. The purpose of these meetings was to learn about students and mentors for pairing a mentor with a student having common interests.
Currently, there are 13 students in the STRIVE Scholarship program and each has been paired with a mentor. At the January 11, 2019 meeting with students, the paired mentors and mentees started working together. At this meeting:
- Each pair identified the best mode of communication between them;
- How they can work together effectively for the mentee to get the most out of this mentorship;
- Reviewed the eligibility criteria for earning the STRIVE scholarship award; and
- Mentees started working on their 2-year and 10-year goals
In February 2019, Amy Goodman, our STRIVE at Work leader has planned a trip for our STRIVE students to visit a company in the area working on Autonomous Vehicles. The purpose of the visit is to give students a glimpse of current and future work opportunities, and for students to recognize that improving their ability to land these opportunities is helped by continuing their education at Washtenaw Community College.
On February 8, 2019, Lynn Martin, who experienced many challenges in her high school years similar to those faced by our STRIVE students and who furthered her education to become Zingerman’s Business Manager, will share her story to encourage students to continue higher education to better themselves and their families.
By Sumedh Bahl
