Mentors Ease Transition for Indian Trail MS Sixth Graders

Submitted by Plainfield School District 202

Photo: Indian Trail Middle School eighth graders welcome incoming sixth-grade students to the PAWS kickoff event at the school on Thursday, Aug. 6. PAWS Pack is a mentor program pairing eighth graders with sixth graders to ease the transition from elementary to middle school. The mentors are available all school year to answer questions, tutor or support sixth graders. PAWS stands for Positively Affecting Wildcat Success.

Indian Trail Middle School eighth graders are using a “PAWS On” approach to help ease the transition for new sixth graders from elementary to middle school.

Indian Trail Assistant Principal Jennifer Archer created the PAWS – Positively Affecting Wildcat Success – mentoring program three years ago.

Eighth-grade mentors help sixth graders all year long by answering their questions, providing tutoring, being a friendly face in the new school crowd. The goal is to make 6th graders feel welcome.

“We wanted to make sure (the sixth graders) weren’t walking into a big scary building,” Archer said.

Seventh grade teachers specially pick the PAWS Pack mentors – 65 this year – to reflect a mix of students showing leadership abilities, including English Language Learner and special education students.

The PAWS Pack kicked off the mentoring year with the Class of 2018 on Aug. 6 with a night of “get to know you” activities at the school.

Eighth-graders Amber Speer and Dean Eubanks, both 13, excitedly welcomed new students at the Aug. 6 event.

Each said they looked forward to getting to know the sixth graders and helping them throughout the year.

The teen mentors said their PAWS Pack experience will help better prepare them for high school and make it easier to meet new people.

PAWS Pack mentors get an experience and memory that will last a lifetime, Archer added. Some mentors come out of their shells or find something inside themselves they didn’t know they had, she said.

“They will always have that sense of pride and community,” Archer said.

Indian Trail is the only District 202 middle school using this type of mentor program, she said. Several high schools use a similar national mentor program called Link Crew to help freshman feel more at home in high school.