Chicago Public Schools Observes National Mentoring Month District Provides Students, Teachers, and Community-Based Organizations with Critical Mentoring Supports

 

Chicago Public Schools Observes National Mentoring Month District Provides Students, Teachers, and Community-Based Organizations with Critical Mentoring Supports


CHICAGO – Chicago Public Schools (CPS) celebrates National Mentoring Month and the ongoing efforts to provide both our students and educators with targeted guidance and support through vital mentorship programs. In recent years, CPS has expanded mentoring opportunities to strengthen teaching and learning practices for both educators and students.

“To honor our commitments in the CPS Three-Year Blueprint, we have made intentional investments in addressing our students’ and teachers’ individual needs,” said CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. “Our mentorship programs allow us to meet their needs as they develop tools that will help propel them toward a successful future as a student or educator.”

School-Based Mentoring for Students 

The Office of School Counseling and Postsecondary Advising (OSCPA) is committed to ensuring all CPS students are equipped to be successful in college, careers and beyond. Mentoring is an effective tool to help students navigate the often steep, and uneven road to adulthood.

CPS aims to provide students with support systems and positive adult relationships needed to thrive and successfully plan their future. School-based mentoring for middle and high-school-age youth focuses on improving the academic and social-emotional outcomes of students who require additional support and resources. This school year, the District’s School-Based Mentoring Cohort, consisting of 65 elementary, middle, and high schools, will match more than 1000 students to CPS staff advisors or near-peer mentors who have been mentored themselves and are now equipped to support others.

“I joined the peer mentor program because, as a freshman, I felt like I needed guidance around dealing with this new experience, especially after Covid,” said Kayla Romero, a senior at Benito Juarez Community Academy. “As I transitioned from a mentee to a mentor, I improved my communication skills and I learned that we are all in the same boat on this journey.”

CPS provides several student mentoring opportunities throughout the District and works with community partner organizations to extend and enhance that support and services.

More than 65 schools run, “Becoming A Man (BAM),” during the school day which strives to improve academic achievement and reduce violence among disadvantaged youth through school-based group sessions led by community members with relatable life experiences. School counselors throughout the District are also creating programs tailored to serve their school population. Jorge Alaves, the School Counselor at Lindblom Math and Science Academy created “Colegio,” a mentoring program for Latino students that means “College.”

“We launched `Colegio’ about six years ago when we noticed that Latino males at Lindblom seemed to be struggling academically and socially and were less likely to apply to colleges,” Alaves said. “Through targeted team building activities, peer mentorship, and larger discussion groups we have seen a growth in participants’ confidence in themselves, their academic capabilities and ultimately an increase in college applications.”

More intensive mentoring programs, like the District's, “Choose to Change” program, combine trauma-informed therapy with intense wraparound supports to reduce youth violence while improving educational outcomes outside of an institutional setting and serve close to 1,000 students in 27 communities in Chicago's South and West sides.

Back to Our Future aims to re-engage students who have become disconnected from CPS by connecting them with community counselors and individualized mentoring designed to get them back on track to complete their education. More than 400 students have successfully completed the pilot program allowing them to return to high school or earn their high school diploma.

Through Chicago Mentoring Collaborative (CMC) the District aims to empower community-based mentoring and out-of-school time programs by helping community organizations learn the best mentoring practices and share resources. CMC supports the development of school and community-based mentoring programs that are effective, sustainable, culturally relevant and grass-roots driven to ensure youth from kindergarten to seniors in high school are equipped with the skills and opportunities needed to succeed - both inside and outside of school.

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