We’ve welcomed new students into College Town! 17 8th graders have joined College Town to begin their journey as Reality Changers students. To welcome them into the family, the 8th Grade Achievement Mentor Program pairs each student with a peer mentor, a current high school student who has shown great success in Reality Changers and in school, for a 9-week mentorship. The focus of this program is to equip 8th grade students with the skills and mindset to succeed in high school.

Each peer mentor, known as an Achievement Mentor, will..

• Set 2 goals with their mentee and hold them accountable to achieving those goals.
• Build a resource list with their mentee based on the different resources and opportunities available at their mentee’s future high school. 
• Support their mentee in creating a reflection poem that has their mentee reflect on their past and present and how that will affect their future. The mentee will be coached by their mentor to present this poem during “Reality Changers’ 8th Grade Poetry Slam”
• Help their mentee explore their values and begin developing them into value-based leaders
• Build a summer plan that is aligned with their mentees interests and goals for next year
• Provide their mentee with guidance and advice based on their lived experiences

Achievement Mentors will meet with their mentee on a weekly basis and will be awarded 10 hours of community service for their involvement in this program.

Meet Eddy, a 10th Grader at San Diego High, Reality Changers student, and Achievement Mentor.

Why are you part of this program?

“I remember when I first joined Reality Changers I was nervous. My first event with Reality Changers was going to Forest Home for summer leadership camp, and I was feeling really nervous because I didn’t know anyone in the program. I thought if I could play the role of a mentor I could help these 8th graders not feel as nervous being a part of Reality Changers. Now I feel like Reality Changers is my second home and I want them to experience that welcoming feeling and feel like it’s a place for them to be at home. The Achievement Mentor Program is important because all of these incoming students have different goals and are different people, and this program will motivate students to achieve their goals and make them feel like they accomplished something.” 

What are you looking forward to?

“The part of the program that I am most looking forward to is building a connection with someone who is younger than me. If I am a mentor and make them feel comfortable in settings that are normally uncomfortable, I have done my job as a mentor. I hope I can help another student accomplish their goals, whether they are big or small.” 

What have you enjoyed about the program so far?

“Last week we got to go bouldering with some of the 8th graders. Although they are younger than me, I could sense we had a lot of similarities. We connected with a simple activity–that’s what Reality Changers does, it brings people together.”