What subjects are discussed at the meetings with the students?
There are four basic areas, with branches from each:
1. Encouragement; Most or all of the students have the aptitude to be doing much better than they are, which is shown in their grades prior to 10th grade. One or more reasons can be cited for each of them for the drop in GPA starting in 10th grade, but we don't concentrate on the negative past; rather on the here and now. We continually remind them that they can make large improvement by taking numerous small steps in a positive direction.
2. Attitude Change; Many of the students have "chips on their shoulders", blaming everyone and everything other than themselves for their situations. Because we are not their parents or teachers, who many of them have negative attitudes toward; they tend to listen to us once they understand that we are non-paid volunteers that truly care about them. It only takes two to three meetings to develop a good rapport with them by sharing our lives and experiences with them.
3. Taking Responsibility; when we convey to the students that we consider them young adults and remind them of what an adult's responsibilities are, the "chips" begin to fall away allowing them to look forward instead of backward.
4. Tools; We cannot expect the students to do a better job by just trying harder without giving them tools to make their job easier. The foundation for the tools we provide comes from Claude Olney's "Where There's a Will There's an A", which has many tips on how to change attitude, change bad habits with regard to taking notes, studying, and test-taking, develop a good relationship with all teachers, and more. We also discuss goal setting, time management, and setting priorities.
We also provide the students with a networking situation by providing them with a list of all of the Mentors, including their professions and phone numbers. We encourage all of them to contact anyone whose occupation is one that they are interested in, and ask questions or shadow them at their place of employment.
What about the students who do not improve their grades?
We have found that some of the students just don't or can't seem to "get it together" during their senior year; however, many of the subjects we discuss have to do with life skills, and feel confident that they will reflect back on their STRIVE experience and draw from it once they mature enough to realize the benefits of self-improvement.
1. Encouragement; Most or all of the students have the aptitude to be doing much better than they are, which is shown in their grades prior to 10th grade. One or more reasons can be cited for each of them for the drop in GPA starting in 10th grade, but we don't concentrate on the negative past; rather on the here and now. We continually remind them that they can make large improvement by taking numerous small steps in a positive direction.
2. Attitude Change; Many of the students have "chips on their shoulders", blaming everyone and everything other than themselves for their situations. Because we are not their parents or teachers, who many of them have negative attitudes toward; they tend to listen to us once they understand that we are non-paid volunteers that truly care about them. It only takes two to three meetings to develop a good rapport with them by sharing our lives and experiences with them.
3. Taking Responsibility; when we convey to the students that we consider them young adults and remind them of what an adult's responsibilities are, the "chips" begin to fall away allowing them to look forward instead of backward.
4. Tools; We cannot expect the students to do a better job by just trying harder without giving them tools to make their job easier. The foundation for the tools we provide comes from Claude Olney's "Where There's a Will There's an A", which has many tips on how to change attitude, change bad habits with regard to taking notes, studying, and test-taking, develop a good relationship with all teachers, and more. We also discuss goal setting, time management, and setting priorities.
We also provide the students with a networking situation by providing them with a list of all of the Mentors, including their professions and phone numbers. We encourage all of them to contact anyone whose occupation is one that they are interested in, and ask questions or shadow them at their place of employment.
What about the students who do not improve their grades?
We have found that some of the students just don't or can't seem to "get it together" during their senior year; however, many of the subjects we discuss have to do with life skills, and feel confident that they will reflect back on their STRIVE experience and draw from it once they mature enough to realize the benefits of self-improvement.