I have been watching some of the student mentorship opportunities at Primary Campus this week. We have High School students working with Primary students as choreographers for the Fashion Show. We have High School students teaching swimming lessons after school and responsible for bringing TEAM kids from their buses to swimming lessons. I have a Grade 12 French student shadowing the Primary French teachers to gain experience before applying to Teacher's College. Mr. Milkovich's class did a Social Studies activity about Canada’s First Nations with the Grade 2 classes. Ms. Haney and Ms. Venditelli's classes did a “real world” math activity as they baked cookies with the Grade 3s.
I see High Schoolers learn communication skills such as how to speak and instruct different audiences. They learn to express confidence in what they are teaching the younger students. They learn how to engage the younger kids in the material being presented. I see them learn to adapt their plans when things don't go quite the way they expected. I see them learn time management skills as they balance Mentor's academic standards while also being expected to uphold their commitments to their Primary Campus activities. I hear them get advice from teachers that I think we all wished we'd had when we first started teaching.
In the younger students, I see them being thrilled that "big kids" are interested in them. I see them see kids just like them, wearing the same uniform, doing such great things that our little ones are only just beginning to dream about. I see the kids learning from someone who isn't their teacher but who upholds the same standards as their teachers.
As a teacher and a parent, I love the opportunities it provides to both groups. It just doesn't happen everywhere.
Becky Wertman
French Teacher, Primary Division
