Student/Partner Alliance Annual Holiday Party

On January 8th, Student/Partner Alliance(S/PA) held its Annual Holiday Party at Marist High School, drawing over 240 enthusiastic mentors, students, parents, and school administers. Excitement filled the room as mentors and mentees shared a delicious meal, told stories about their holidays, and celebrated the New Year together.

This year, S/PA has more new mentors than ever, with 20 new mentors and partners. We support 190 students at 7 schools with mentoring and tuition assistance. The Holiday Party is our biggest annual event that draws most of our students, mentors and families. Thank you to PNC Bank for supporting the event.

The evening culminated with a moving performance by Rahda Martinez, a Marist graduate and former contestant of The Voice. We look forward to the second half of the school year and the new wave of applications that will start coming in.

ABOUT:

Student/Partner Alliance

The mission of Student/Partner Alliance (S/PA) is to support motivated high school students at private high schools in New Jersey’s urban areas of Essex, Hudson and Union counties with tuition assistance and mentoring to increase their chances for college admission and scholarships, and ultimately to lead successful and productive lives.

Research from mentor.org shows that mentors play a powerful role in providing young people with the tools to strive and thrive, to attend and engage in school, and to reduce or avoid risky behavior like drug use. In turn, these young people are:

– 55% more likely to be enrolled in college

– 81% more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities

– 78% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities.

– More than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team.

Yet, the same research shows that one in three young people in our country will grow up without a mentor. Today, in our community there are so many young people who could benefit from having a mentor outside their family.

To learn more about the role mentoring plays in our community and to find volunteer opportunities with us visit www.studentpartneralliance.org. If you would like to learn more about our program, please contact me at akent@studentpartneralliance.org.