Students Offering Support

BACKGROUND/ NEEDS OF YOUR SCHOOL/DISTRICT

SPECIFIC REQUEST

To implement a Freshman (Middle School/ College) Transition Program, a semester-long peer-facilitated program that helps orient and connect freshmen to high school while promoting positive changes in the school culture. The Freshman Transition Program:

• Eases freshmen transition to high school
• Provides freshmen with positive peer mentors and role models
• Expands leadership opportunities for older students while providing a unique community service experience
• Builds a safe and caring school community
• Increases tolerance and acceptance of diversity

Objective

The ultimate goal of the Freshman Transition Program is to help all students build cultural competencies and the sense of community necessary for a safe and productive high school environment.

The primary objective of the Freshman Transition Program is to provide freshmen with the vital connection to their new school, using the power of peers helping peers to insure academic and social success in a safe and caring community. Some of the skills that freshmen will develop include:

• Ability to work in groups
• Tolerance, acceptance and competence in dealing with diversity
• Increased sense of being part of a caring community
• Raised awareness of and responsible behavior around social issues (drug/alcohol and tobacco use, harassment and gang activity)
• Leadership, respect, and responsibility

The key component for accomplishing this objective is to recruit, train, and utilize peer leaders. High school juniors and seniors are recruited to receive leadership training to facilitate the small group freshman activities. Using peer leaders provides freshmen with positive role models and a sense of safety and belonging. The peer leaders gain valuable experience facilitating group processes, speaking in front of others, and providing leadership service to their school. Extra effort is made to recruit peer leaders who reflect the diversity of the campus.

“Freshmen Transition gives you a friend right away, and that friend is your peer leader”–Woodside High School ninth grader.

Evidence of Need

Students today are not only faced with academic, social, and economic pressures, they are vulnerable to a range of traumas (little adult supervision at home, failure in school, unsafe sex, illegal substances) and violence (injury or death by firearms, drunk driving, gang activity, and suicide).

“This situation is bad, and it can get much worse. More and more children find themselves required to make important choices in an environment that does not protect them and, in fact, puts them at risk for great harm. Many of our children attempt to cope with a situation that is overwhelming them by moving along the path of least resistance. Often it is easier for our youth to stop going to school, to engage in delinquent or other antisocial behavior, or to get lost in a haze of drugs and alcohol.” – Santa Clara County Office of Education

Geographic Area to be Served – Describe your population/demographics

Example for a diverse school community:

Social, cultural, academic, and economic differences are often a breeding ground for misunderstandings. High schools serve a variety of communities whose children come together for the first time in the ninth grade, and these students often reflect the ever-increasing diversity and changing demographics of students of the area. Students range from the homeless, to recent immigrants struggling to make a living, to the affluent and privileged. Students entering high school demonstrate a wide range of skills in reading and math — from illiteracy in any language to college-level competency.

The Freshman Transition Program is now in place in nine Bay Area/ California high schools. It is expensive to start the program the first year. We are requesting a matching grant that can make this program a success and reduce the cost for the start up year. (See Program Cost section for details.)

Program Phases

For the start up year we recommend training about 25-35 peer leaders and 90-100 freshmen. By the school’s second or third program year, the teacher coordinator has enough experience to organize a full-scale program and recruit enough peer leaders to conduct the program for the entire freshman class.

• Prior to starting the program, one training day is held for faculty/staff including program coordinator(s), teachers whose freshman classes are involved, and an administrator, parent, and school district board member. Sophomores and juniors are recruited and receive 18 hours of peer leader training.
• In the fall, peer leaders get refresher training and are assigned a small group of freshmen. On a pre-school day peer leaders help orient freshmen to their new school by taking their small groups on personalized tours and sharing tips for success. On another day, they facilitate their group of freshmen through an outdoor Challenge Day, a series of trust-building and group problem-solving activities.
• Continuing throughout the first semester, peer leaders meet with their group at least six more times to discuss everything from academic/graduation requirements and clubs to conflict resolution and tobacco use prevention.

Evaluation

A detailed professional evaluation of the dissemination of this program to two high schools during the school year 1999-2001 was recently completed. The report states: “Results of Freshman Transition youth leaders survey indicate increased self-confidence and a positive view of the future.” A detailed copy is available upon request.

At the beginning of the semester we propose giving a (self-assessment of your choice) survey which will be administered to approximately 100 freshmen. Late in the semester the survey will again be administered to the same freshmen to measure their change. The peer leaders are de-briefed after each session with their group and will also be surveyed. The teacher coordinator will document observations and make recommendations.

Program Cost and Future Project Support

We are requesting a “matching” grant that qualifies for and commits to starting up and maintaining this proven high school safety program. In subsequent years the school and/or district would pick up the maintenance cost.

The schools’ and the grantor’s responsibilities would be shared as follows:

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

ShaMo Educational Consulting was founded by teachers and peer program prevention specialists Sharon Yoerg, MA, and Maureen Campbell, MS, to offer their proven Freshmen Transition Program to other schools. Their model Freshman Transition Program has been in place at Woodside High School in Redwood City, CA since 1993. Mrs. Yoerg and Mrs. Campbell’s combined experience includes over 40 years teaching youth and 12 years developing and field testing their Freshmen Transition curriculum with thousands of students.

CONCLUSION

The Freshman Transition Program teaches students of all races, socio-economic levels, and academic abilities ways to live and work together peacefully and respectfully. Providing opportunities for young people to feel a sense of belonging and connectedness leads to stronger, more resilient youth, increased commitment to academics, and ultimately healthier communities and a better-equipped future workforce. Thank you for your consideration.