Near Peer Mentor Program
PPS | HS ACADEMICS | Week of May 15-19th
Stories
Quick snapshots of stories from any and all of the schools we serve. Feel free to send in stories from your schools to be featured!
Announcements
General announcements will be shared along with updates about the program or district.
Which colleges in Oregon have Engineering Degrees?
Mentors Jonathan and Jovanni facilitated a workshop with students in their Engineering class at Roosevelt where they informed students of the colleges in Oregon that have engineering degrees. Guess how many? Only 4! They shared the cost of tuition, type of engineering programs offered and the maximum degrees that can be obtained at the school. Students accessed their knowledge through Kahoot and heard from Jonathan whose currently an engineering student at Portland State while Jovanni shared his transition from engineering to criminal justice. Check out their workshop agenda and slideshow!
Mentors Jonathan and Jovanni are about to start!
Learn about credit cards and how to gain credit from the perspective of a mentor!
At Lincoln, mentor Litzy shared with her ELL students about financial terminology like banks, credit cards, credit scores and when to open a credit card account. As students are beginning to work and earn money, this is something they may be interested about. Litzy shared her story of when she started earning credit and when it was helpful to have a good credit score. Check out her slideshow with students!
What are some ways students can pay for college?
As seniors are gearing towards the end of their high school journey and some are going to college, McDaniel mentor Daniel shared about ways students can pay for college, a concept he's well versed as a current college student himself. Daniel shared about some of most common financial resources e.g. FAFSA, ORSAA, OSAC and Oregon Promise, but also shared tips on budgeting. Daniel shared about the qualifications for each resources then dove into two ways he's learned how to budget. One technique is through the 50-30-20 rule, a strategy taught in business classes i.e. 50% Needs, 30% Wants and 20% Savings. Some tips include cutting down on costs during for daily use e.g. public transit versus driving a car. Check out the slideshow.
Mentor Alumni Project | PhotoVoice: Reflection on the Mentor Experience
One project from our Evaluation Team that has been in the works is our PhotoVoice: Reflection on the Mentor Experience. This project seeks to share stories of the past mentors and discover where they've gone and how their experience in the program has shaped their future. We're excited to learn about their lives and share snapshots of their story with everyone. For those who aren't aware, PhotoVoice is a method of inquiry that engages participants in creating photographs and short captions in response to specific questions (Wang & Burris, 1997) to be used for social change. The photos and captions submitted by participants provide contextually grounded insights that might otherwise be unreachable by those not living that experience (Evalu-ate). We will analyze and aggregate the photos and captions to tell a story, bringing to life mentorsβ responses.
In the spirit of the values of the PPS GEAR UP program, the data will be used to build community and elevate voices celebrating their contributions with participants, the GEAR UP community, and schools participating in the mentor program. Additionally, data will be used to ensure visibility of the impact of programming, not just on the students who had access to mentors, but also on the mentors themselves. Finally, we will share with different audiences how the mentor program helps to build a pipeline into education from the Portland community and specifically among Portland Public Schools alumni.
As we continue to refine and prepare materials for the launch, check out this slideshow for more information.
MARY EVANS - for your continued, go-getter attitude that make you admirable to work with. The way you walk into any space and commands people to focus on students and families is exactly what we need everyday.
JEFFERSON ADMIN DRAKE, GARIN AND KHANDICE - for your support and leadership in ensuring opportunities for your teachers around Parent Teacher Home Visits and being a teacher who collaborates with a mentor. Your positive and collaborative energy is exciting!
ROOSEVELT PARTNER TEACHERS - for providing your students the opportunity to share their educational experience to enhance the learning environment by administrating the most Student Survey this spring!
KEVIN NGUYEN - major congratulations for graduating with your bachelors last Sunday! Kevin is a 2019 McDaniel alum and currently mentoring with Erik Mellgren in his Biomedical class. Kevin's major is Biology and Chemistry with his future career to be a Physician. He will focus on getting experience before applying to medical school. Great job!
Jennie Cha (she/her)
Program Supervisor | PPS | HS Academics
Monday Office Hours 1-2pm: meeting link
Thursday Office Hours 11-12pm: meeting link
AmeriCorps Members
- Simone Frison | sifrison@pps.net
- Maria Felix-Pedro | mafelixpedro@pps.net