At Glasgow Middle School, Every Student Can Find the Perfect Mentor
Anderson, a seventh-grade student at Glasgow Middle School, grinned as he talked about soccer, one of his biggest passions.
“My team is Barcelona because I like them,” he said. “I’m the only one in my family who likes them, my family is mostly [rooting for] Madrid, and we faced them in the last two matches and we won.” Continuing with excitement, Anderson recalled Barcelona’s latest match: “Just this week we were losing by 3 at halftime, and by the end of the game we won, 5-4.”
Like Barcelona fighting an uphill battle on the soccer field, Anderson, who asked only to be referred to by his first name, has faced challenges of his own. He recently returned to Glasgow after spending time at two alternative schools, where he was placed for, as he explained, “misbehaving a lot.” When he returned to Glasgow, Anderson entered the mentorship program and chose a staff member to become his mentor. He picked his history teacher, Christian Rios, who runs Glasgow’s soccer club, which Anderson participated in in the sixth grade.
“During soccer, he was always respectful and easygoing,” said Rios, “it was easy to work with him, there was no learning curve.”
In their first meeting, the pair quickly bonded over soccer. Within a few sessions, Rios gave Anderson a clear set of short- and long-term goals to work on: in the short term, Anderson provides his teachers with a daily behavioral assessment sheet. For his long-term goal, he aims to maintain grades at C-level or higher.
Glasgow Middle School is the largest middle school in Fairfax County, with more than 1,800 students. Its mentoring program goes above and beyond to make the large campus feel more like a close-knit community. Rios is one of more than 60 mentors at Glasgow, and the number is growing as even more staff members and community volunteers step up to mentor.
Having a variety of mentors, each with different backgrounds, specialties, and interests, helps every Glasgow student find the right mentor for their needs. The mentors also learn how to adapt to each of their student mentees. For example, eighth-grade student Asurema Fuentes-Romero only made simple small talk the first time she met with her mentor, math teacher Noemi Arellano. “That conversation led to better bonding,” Asurema explained. “We met up more often, and we talked about things that made us comfortable and our feelings.” Since then, Arellano’s mentee group has grown to five students who work together on many school improvement projects. They just finished creating new hallway and restroom passes for each classroom. Next on the group’s agenda: creating motivational posters. “The focus of my mentoring is leadership skills, improving communication skills, and gaining or strengthening their inner power/confidence,” explained Arellano. “I want to see my girls dream big in life.”
“We’re working on the environment at school to make it feel more like home,” explained School Social Worker Lisa Hershaft. “It feels like this is our place.” Hershaft has noticed significant changes in the students who regularly receive mentoring: they are less likely to be chronically absent, more attentive in class, and, in some cases, their grades have started to improve. “I feel like I see a lot more smiles on their faces, it’s like kids are more excited about learning!” she beamed.
The mentorship program at Glasgow supports Goal 2 of the FCPS Strategic Plan 2023-30. When they have a trusted adult to talk to, students feel Safe, Supported, Included, and Empowered. It makes a difference in the lives of student mentees, no matter what challenges they’re going through. Substitute teacher Toreen El Akwah has been mentoring sixth grade student William Pereira since he was a student at Belvedere Elementary School. While working in his school, she supported William when he struggled through a teacher transition. William remembered feeling “depressed” at the time, but then El Akwah “started talking to me.”
“There were a lot of personal things he was talking to me about,” El Akwah remembered, “so I think he was sharing those things with his teacher and he needed somebody to talk to.” Two years later, El Akwah still checks in with William every week or two. They play Jenga and catch up. Since he entered Glasgow, “I have seen him become more mature,” she noted, “and I think he [feels empowered to make] some good decisions for himself.”
Pastor James Page, a community mentor, has also followed his mentee since the fourth grade. A former Falls Church resident, Page now leads three congregations in neighboring Loudoun County. That doesn’t stop him from driving an hour away to meet with his Glasgow student. “It’s all about taking the kids from being quiet and shy, or being a troublemaker, and turning them into a kid that’s going to be productive for the future of this country,” he explained. For his mentees, Page does more than visit the classroom. He also sits on the sidelines during their sports games. As he describes his mentoring style, “I don’t want to just be a person that comes in and tells you what you’re doing wrong and what you need to change. I want to be there to cheer you on when you’re doing the right thing.”
Mentoring also builds a sense of connection between the school’s students, staff, and the broader community. All it takes is a few sessions to form unbreakable bonds. That’s what happened with mentor Melissa Muse, an employee in the FCPS Office of Special Education Instruction who volunteers at Glasgow. She says it took about four sessions for her mentee to open up, but they “have a connection now.”
“I can take a 30-minute drive and then spend 30 minutes being with mentees, sometimes longer, and sitting with someone can help change their life,” she said. “I’m giving back. It’s a great feeling.”
Learn more about the mentor screening and application process.
Learn more about mentoring partnerships.
