DESTREHAN – The first thing that comes to mind when you hear of a mentor is someone that helps or guides another when in need.
Well, knowing that Destrehan High School is so wonderful and will do anything to help their students succeed, they have set up a program where certain DHS juniors and seniors are assigned to help incoming freshmen. This idea of having a Kickoff Mentors (KOM) program was considered last year by the freshmen team teachers who researched many programs like this and chose the KOM program. National KOM representatives came in, trained the students, and chose the mentors.
The Kickoff mentor program is run by the “Kickoff Council,” which is a group of senior students who are selected by the administration. Each mentor is assigned to four or five freshmen who become “theirs.” KOM leads students at the orientation and follows up with them throughout the year on their grades, attendance, and extracurriculars. The KOM believes that freshmen should always feel comfortable to talk to their mentor about school-related problems, and anything else that may come up.
At the end of this school year, applications will go out to be a mentor for the following year. The only requirements are that you have to be a junior or senior, and be willing to help students! So, come out, and help freshmen that are coming into Destrehan next year, because once you were a freshmen too, who had to deal with what they have to later. So far, the KOM program is running very smoothly. Ms. Southard, who works very closely with this program, commented about how successful they are in guiding the freshmen, “Freshmen enjoyed orientation and felt personally welcomed to their new school. They are excited when they see their new upper classmen friends in the halls,” she said.
Many freshmen commented that, in fact, they appreciated the hospitality of the mentors. They were particularly grateful for the tour, as very few of them felt lost during the first day of classes.
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