The staff of King’s McGowan Hispanic Outreach program believes that it is important to reach out to students of all ages. With the creation of a Middle School Mentoring Program, King’s College offers a program for Hispanic students who find themselves in transition from elementary to middle school. The middle school age (7th – 9th grades) is the perfect time to open young minds to new possibilities, to build an appreciation for the value of education before you enter high school, and to allow you to explore areas of interest for future studies.
The Pathways to Success Program meets twice a month and is built on national models that bring college students and middle school students together for learning experiences that introduce them to a broad spectrum of academic disciplines, to the opportunities that these disciplines provide and to the steps necessary to achieve excellence within the discipline. Such an after-school program will help assure that middle school students will be less likely to become another statistic of a high school dropout statistic, or be involved in at-risk afterschool activities.
Goals and Objectives of the Pathways to Success Middle School Program
The goal of the program is to expose Hispanic students to a unique learning environment that includes the mentoring relationship, creative programming developed by mentors and staff, and extracurricular activities in a college environment.
The program will:
- Introduce middle school students to a variety of academic disciplines
- Promote wellness and physical activities
- Open their interests in the different majors/fields of study
- Prepare students for the McGowan High School Mentoring Program
- Create a mentor-mentee support system based on the developmental level of the middle school student
- Build confidence and leadership skills that will foster success in high school