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Computers to Replace PD Mentoring Program

Posted on: Friday, 5 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Aug. 5--Palo Duro High School's mentoring program will be shut down this fall to be replaced by computer-based tutoring programs. Educators say the new system will impact more students in a more effective way.

"We weren't getting the number of students that we needed to get through that program ... just based on mentoring and space available," Palo Duro Principal Mark Leach said.

But participants say ending the mentoring program is a big loss to students who benefited from it.

"I'm so sad about this. That program helped me a lot, and it's a shame that they closed it because it can help a lot of kids," said Lily Conde, who graduated 13th in her class from Palo Duro this spring and is headed to Amarillo College in the fall.

Conde participated in Palo Duro's mentoring program, part of the America's Promise organization, during her junior year of high school.

Conde was paired with mentor Whitney Kelly, who helped her improve her English reading and writing skills, she said. Conde has been in the United States for four years. Kelly pushed her to succeed -- even making her read English out loud, which Conde hated doing, she said.

"He was a really important person in my life. I'm always going to be grateful to him because he gave me that time instead of doing other things," Conde said. "I considered him my friend." Kelly, who served as a mentor for two years at Palo Duro, said he loved working with students, especially Conde.

"She's getting ready to be going to Amarillo College. She's an ACE scholar. She'll probably go on to a four-year school from that," Kelly said.

The ACE program, or Achievement through Commitment to Education, rewards high-performing graduates with college scholarship money.

After Conde graduated, "she gave me her tassel, which was pretty cool," Kelly said.

But Palo Duro educators won't let students fall by the wayside, Leach said.

"Any time you pull mentors out of a school, it's not always very positive, but you've got to look at the long-range goals -- what's going to impact the kids down the road," he said.

About 70 volunteers and 40 students participated in the mentoring program last school year, Leach said.

Starting this fall, the new tutoring program will target ninth-graders only, Leach said. They will participate in reading and math tutoring programs that are computer-based, he said.

This way, more students will get tutoring attention, Leach said.

"They're going to run a full 30-kid (computer) lab per period," he said. "We want to impact more kids during that time."

Sophomores, juniors and seniors who need to pass Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests still can get help from remediation classes, Leach said.

Also this fall, Palo Duro will start a mentor-type program using teachers as student advisers, he said. The program will start with ninth-graders, then expand to other grades, he said.

Although Palo Duro is ending its mentoring program, other mentoring programs at Amarillo Independent School District campuses will not be affected, officials said.

Why end Palo Duro's program? It's the best solution for those students, Leach said.

"One of the beauties of the school district is they allow schools to make decisions for their particular kids, so what's best for Palo Duro's not necessarily best for Tascosa or Amarillo High," he said.

Palo Duro mentors have mixed reactions to the cancellation of their program.

Debbie Etheredge, who volunteered as a math mentor last year, said she trusts the judgment of the program director, Nancy Farren, who could not be reached for comment.

"I bet she's picked out the better of the two options," Etheredge said.

But Etheredge wonders how a computer-based curriculum will work.

"Being with a person, you can always give them encouragement and kind of help them understand where they're going wrong if they're working out a problem," Etheredge said. "(With) a computer, I don't know how that's going to work."

Ten-year mentor Peter Bickers said a computer program can't work alongside a student.

"All it can tell you is right or wrong. It can't help the students analyze the problem and see where they made a mistake," he said.

And mentoring meant more than just helping students with math or reading, Bickers said.

"This was contact with interested adults," he said. "It also gave them exposure to the value of an education. These were business people who took time to come there."

The mentoring program also helped to bridge Amarillo's north-south divide, Bickers said.

"This gave southwest Amarillo intimate attention and interest in northeast Amarillo," he said.

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Source: Amarillo Globe-News

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