Web-based mentoring program will aid students

New high school graduation criteria have stringent requirements for reading, writing, and math proficiency. The rules mandate that students pass a Certificate of Mastery, take three years of math and dictate that they complete an in-depth senior “culminating project,” in addition to current high school requirements.

The guidelines were put in place to better prepare future graduating classes for college and work, and to encourage greater participation in the community. While those are necessary pursuits, the guidelines enacted by the Washington State Board of Education do not include a technology component, a vital skill in today’s business environment. Technology must play a significant role in helping students fulfill these new requirements.

The responsibility for helping students fulfill requirements for an extra year of math and the WASL test will fall heavily on teachers and school administrators. The last requirement, the senior culminating project, will require the efforts of the entire community. To ensure success, a collaborative effort must be made by students, parents, business leaders, and educational institutions. Our entire region will need to make time to assist these students in meeting these new challenges.

Without strong intervention, the dropout and failure rate of our students will increase. The critical tool to combat this growing trend is mentoring. That’s where technology enters the equation.

The Inland Northwest Technology Alliance, or Technet, is partnering with MESA (Math Engineering and Science Association), Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America and Gonzaga University’s grade-school mentoring program to create a professional Web-based mentoring program. This program will predominantly use business professionals and university students as mentors. There will be a combination of one-on-one mentoring, monitored Web chat rooms, Web career assessments, journaling and e-mail dialog. The mentors will be given training such as Web competency and ethnic educational seminars to help them better understand students’ cultures and needs.

This is a new technology concept of mentoring that supports the student by providing encouragement, shared knowledge, computer skills and additional resources for learning, while fulfilling the new requirements.

For many school districts the senior culminating project is a non-issue until 2007. Still, only 75 of the 296 school districts in Washington indicate they have a program to assist students with these projects.

The purpose of the project is for students to research their career interests, potential careers and the educational requirements necessary to attain those goals. Ideally, the professional Web mentoring program would begin in the students’ freshman year, allowing them to start thinking ahead, asking questions, and taking appropriate classes.

Immediate planning is necessary. Not only are mentors needed for a wide variety of topics (approximately 5,000 graduates are projected in District 81 in 2008), but they also will serve alongside teachers as panelists for a week of required student presentations.

There are many mentoring organizations such as Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America, and Junior Achievement and MESA. However, their greatest involvement has been at the K-8 grade levels, with limited high school programs. This is not enough. In higher-need communities, students already “at-risk” will fall further behind. Without a strongly structured program of supportive mentoring, many will never have the skills or opportunities to graduate and succeed beyond high school.

Now more than ever, there is a great need for us to give back to our community. There are many retirees, business professionals and spouses taking professional leaves of absence to raise children or go to school who would not be where they are today if someone had not taken the time to mentor them.

The community’s volunteer time and financial support of these programs can ensure success of these new requirements. And if they succeed, the result will be better-educated employees and more students interested in higher education.

If you’re interested in learning more about how you can be a mentor or offer financial support for a professional Web mentoring program, please send an e-mail to mentor@technetNW.org, or call 242-8324. Get involved in any of the organizations listed above or, better yet, contact your local high school and see what you can do to help.