Marist mentors encourage local students to succeed
Lisa Glover
Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Features
Poughkeepsie and Kingston public school students in the Liberty Partnership Program (LPP) meet with their mentors at Marist on a weekly basis and form a connection that will hopefully motivate them to achieve success both academically and personally, through academic work, discussion, debate, and dance.
LPP is a dropout prevention program directed by Susan Repko serving approximately 240 students each year within the schools of Poughkeepsie Middle School, Poughkeepsie High School, J. Watson Bailey Middle School, M. Clifford Miller Middle School, and Kingston High School. Students in LPP are referred to the program by principals, guidance counselors, teachers and parents who foresee them as a risk of dropping out of school due to academic difficulties, family circumstances, and negative peer pressure.
Mentor Jackie Greiner, a sophomore in LPP said, "The program is a great opportunity for underprivileged students to have a role model to look up to and to motivate them. It is also an educating experience for the mentors who are thinking about becoming teachers and to see firsthand different aspects of teaching and the appreciation of life itself."
LPP's mission is "to secure resources through the College, schools and community, and provide diverse and empowering experiences for students and parents. LPP focuses on educating youth to maximize their potential and understand their intrinsic value as members of society."
The program is sponsored by Marist College and is funded by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) since 1990. At Liberty, mentors make it their main goal to stimulate their mentees to perform better in school and actively consider a higher education.
Mentors are typically education majors whose goal is to pursue a career in the field of education.They discuss career goals and help mentees to understand and complete homework, as well as give them a tour of campus and an insight to the college atmosphere.
Prior to each session, current event articles are given out to the mentors which they read aloud with their mentees. They are engaged in a discussion prompted by analysis questions and a bond is formed as both the mentor and the mentee begin to know and trust one another. Many of these students have already had many difficult challenges to overcome and are very mature for their age.
LPP is a dropout prevention program directed by Susan Repko serving approximately 240 students each year within the schools of Poughkeepsie Middle School, Poughkeepsie High School, J. Watson Bailey Middle School, M. Clifford Miller Middle School, and Kingston High School. Students in LPP are referred to the program by principals, guidance counselors, teachers and parents who foresee them as a risk of dropping out of school due to academic difficulties, family circumstances, and negative peer pressure.
Mentor Jackie Greiner, a sophomore in LPP said, "The program is a great opportunity for underprivileged students to have a role model to look up to and to motivate them. It is also an educating experience for the mentors who are thinking about becoming teachers and to see firsthand different aspects of teaching and the appreciation of life itself."
LPP's mission is "to secure resources through the College, schools and community, and provide diverse and empowering experiences for students and parents. LPP focuses on educating youth to maximize their potential and understand their intrinsic value as members of society."
The program is sponsored by Marist College and is funded by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) since 1990. At Liberty, mentors make it their main goal to stimulate their mentees to perform better in school and actively consider a higher education.
Mentors are typically education majors whose goal is to pursue a career in the field of education.They discuss career goals and help mentees to understand and complete homework, as well as give them a tour of campus and an insight to the college atmosphere.
Prior to each session, current event articles are given out to the mentors which they read aloud with their mentees. They are engaged in a discussion prompted by analysis questions and a bond is formed as both the mentor and the mentee begin to know and trust one another. Many of these students have already had many difficult challenges to overcome and are very mature for their age.
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