Once I entered the building everyone was very welcoming. I signed in and the kids all looked very excited and hyper. The day started off with gathering time where the scholars and mentors all form a circle and share with each other the announcements, scholars of the week, mentors of the week, and quote of the week. You can tell that bonds were form between the mentors and scholars as I observed a scholar hugged up and talking to his mentor. At times the kids would get out of hand and talk while others were talking. The center director of Higher Achievement would stress the importance of the acronym they go by, called PRIDE. P is for Positivity, R is for Respect, I is for Individuality, D is for good Decisions, and E is for Excellence. When Community meeting was done we were separated into different rooms and paired up with a student. My student name is Roshanike and she is in the sixth grade. We began our study session just talking and getting to know each other. Right away we became friends when she told me her favorite subject was math. I went over with her the lesson plan on decimals and fractions. We finished early so we played card games and got to learn more about one another. When time was up everyone got together again and what I thought was very neat was that the center director chose two scholars to lead the dismissal meeting where scholars could give shout outs, or recognizing which PRIDE letter their peers or mentors showed. They also were given the opportunity to summarize how their lessons went and what they learned from it too. Then, the mentors were asked to go to the computer room to evaluate how their lessons went and it just a time to help and get advice from other mentors on how to make your lessons run more smoothly.I got to meet wonderful scholars who all have their own personalities and I feel with the right motivation and tools they are able to achieve great things, if they put their minds to it.
Review from Guidestar