Bloomington High School North, Nikean, 2017, Page 85

Description:	A Step in the Right Direction- / ///////Story by: Emma AlexanderImagine a class where you receive peer tutoring on notonly your schoolwork, but dealing with everyday lifesituations as well. Many young students here atBloomington North are involved in a program calledLifeskills where they are split into groups consisting oftwo mentors who assist a freshmen with their first yearof high school.The program was first developed by social studiesteachers Geoff Aiken and Don Adams. Over the years,ktwo teachers have selected students who have shownential in past school years but are lacking guidance inskills that many of the mentors do as second nature.There are kids who complete the work and it justsits in their backpack/7 Aiken said. What we can maybefix is a kids organization, their priorities, and makingthem feel comfortable in school by being a friend and aperson they can talk to.77Mr. Aiken in terms of grade improvement gave anexample of this.We had a kid in the program during the first yearwho resisted all the time,77 Aiken said. But the followingyear when we put him back in the program he raised hisGPA from around 1.2 to a 3.2. He started doing his workand then started to feel better about himself.77With the help of his mentors and teachers, thestudent realized that grades do have an impact on yourfuture and that he needed to take it seriously.Its not always apparent to the public, but manystudents struggle with lifestyle situations that can sometimesinterfere with a proper education.We had a student who had gone to 13 differentelementary schools and who had a family that wouldbasically bounce her from family member to familymember,77 Aiken said.That kind of emotional stress is difficult to deal with,especially when you are dealing with it alone.Throughout the program she just became a happierperson and felt that at least for one period every other dayshe had a place to go that was not going to turn her awaybut give her support,77 Aiken said. She was going to havesomeone to talk to.77Success in Lifeskills can be seen in two different ways.You can point at the data and say oh well we raised theirGPA from here to here7 and that did happen in a lot ofcases,77 Aiken said. But the other successes came from kidswho eventually felt better about themselves and had a placewhere they felt welcomed.77In multiple ways this program h§J^l^mKmw/ successful.Mr. Adams and Mr. Aiken b0*pointed them in the directicI If
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomnorth/id/8435
Collection:	Bloomington High School North

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