Big Brothers Big Sisters of Henderson County is pleased to announce Project BIG Start, a collaboration with Henderson County Public Schools to provide mentors for struggling 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders.
Mentors will meet one-on-one with their assigned student for one hour per week during the school day to engage in simple, sharing activities, provide academic support, and be a positive role model.
“I am thrilled about this partnership between Henderson County Public Schools and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Henderson County,” says Matt Gruebmeyer, Director of Title I and Homeless Education for HCPS. “Research has shown that students who establish meaningful relationships with adults have improved academic performance, self-confidence, and classroom behaviors. This fact is especially true for children from poverty, who are statistically more likely to start school with more limited vocabularies, fewer learning opportunities, and less academic support than their peers with more resources. If students who start behind don’t catch up early enough, the gap between what students can do and what they are expected to do in each grade only widens. Is there work more important than making sure students who start behind don’t find themselves behind forever? Project BIG Start will help us provide mentors to children at our four elementary schools with the highest poverty rate: Sugarloaf, Dana, Upward, and Bruce Drysdale.”
We are recruiting mentors to help change a life, one child at a time. Brooke Ballard, Principal at Upward Elementary, states, “Our students who have a Big Brother or a Big Sister really need the extra attention and help that their mentor provides. These children from single parent homes are thrilled to have special one-on-one time at school with an adult who cares and believes in them. This one hour a week makes a big impact on our students.”
Gloria Anderson, Upward Elementary Counselor, is the chair for the Advisory Council of Project BIG Start.
To join Project BIG Start and support our children here in Henderson County, contact Jeff Kowalak, Program Director for Big Brothers Big Sisters at 693-8153 or [email protected].