After a year, mentoring proves to be making a difference for areas students

Amy Robbins and Ashley Smith made a pact last year.

"I would agree to do my dishes if she would agree to do her laundry," Robbins said.

Robbins is a mentor to Smith, a C.M. Russell High School sophomore.

Their agreement had nothing to do with school or grades. When they worked together, though, Smith’s grades improved, and she didn’t skip school.

The Excel Mentor Program has been active at CMR and Great Falls High School for one year, and data show that when students work with a mentor, they do better in classes.

They don’t skip school as often, and they have fewer F’s on their report cards, according to Liz Lee, program coordinator.

By KEILA SZPALLER
Tribune Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060905/NEWS01/609050305/1002

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LINKing up with the frosh

By BILL SCHWANKE of Missoulian.com

Anyone who has attended high school can remember what it was like that first day as a freshman.

For most it probably was a scary day in one way or another. So many new faces, a whole new way of doing things, higher expectations, perhaps even a whole new town.

Hellgate High School decided to try to make Tuesday’s first-day impact a little less scary by introducing the LINK program. Paid for through a small grant from the school district, LINK hooks upper-class students up with freshman for one day without any other students in the building.

The thought is that some students eventually drop out of high school because their first exposure is a negative one. The hope is that by providing freshman students with some mentoring – not only on the first day of school but for some time afterward – their initial impression will be favorable and lasting.

Full Story: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2006/09/05/web/webnews/wnews74.txt