Graduate Greenville

Volunteers are needed to visit the homes of potential dropouts in five High School attendance areas on the Saturday after the first week of school. These schools are Berea, Greenville, Greer, Southside and Travelers Rest.

 

First-time volunteers will attend a training session during the week before school begins. Volunteers will work in teams of four. Each team will include at least one school district employee and one Spanish speaking member in areas with high Hispanic populations.

 

Teams will knock on the doors of students who have not shown up for school during the first week but whose name is on the school roll and no record of transfer can be found. Team members will encourage students who are located to return to school that day and will provide parents with a folder of information about school district programs and available social services.

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Volunteers are needed to act as mentors to rising 9th-grade students who are identified as "at-risk" based on performance in middle school. Successful completion of the 9th grade is crucial to assure that students will graduate from high school. Because failure rates are very high at the 9th grade level, it is necessary to give students as much extra support as possible. Mentors are a proven way to give extra support that has a high probability of making success more likely for these students.

 

Graduate Greenville works through Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Upstate to recruit and train mentors. A mentor should offer support, friendship, guidance and leadership. Tutoring would be an extra added benefit but is not a necessity. Mentors are asked to commit to meeting with the student a minimum of four hours a month for the duration of the school year and the summer following.

 

Activities engaged in by the student and mentor could include school-related activities but are not limited to that. A grant from IBM Corporation also provides access to MentorPlace, an online means of communication and academic activities for mentors and students. Mentors register with both Graduate Greenville and BBBS.

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Graduate Greenville will provide a summer enrichment program for targeted rising 9th graders at Berea, Greenville, Greer, Southside and Travelers Rest High Schools during July, 2009. Volunteers will be needed to pick up lunches from a local restaurant and deliver them to the school. Volunteers with personal motivational stories to share about their own struggles with school are also welcome as well as volunteers who could teach pertinent skills to students; i.e. finances, character development, career development, etc.

 

The work of Graduate Greenville is accomplished through committees that include school district staff; members of the community from higher education, business, churches, non-profit organizations; and other committed citizens. Involvement in the committees goes beyond attending meetings. Each committee member is expected to add their expertise, talents and/or connection to resources to help complete committee tasks.