In Midlothian High School’s Community of Excellence, hundreds of students partake in advanced courses at the AP, Dual Enrollment, or International Baccalaureate level. Some students begin their journey in these courses as freshmen and take one advanced class, but most students begin these classes as upperclassmen and take multiple advanced classes at once. As a result, many upperclassmen feel unprepared for the rigor of taking multiple advanced courses; Dr. Stefanie Mooney, Midlo’s associate principal, saw the need for a support system for students new to advanced level courses, so she created a mentoring program for students to meet with their peers and gain insight into advanced classes. This program recognizes the demands of advanced courses and offers an aid to students who choose to challenge themselves by enrolling in them.

On December 11, 2019, the mentoring program kicked off in Room 322 during Midlo Morning. During the event, successful students in every subject area spoke on a panel to share their knowledge of Midlo’s advanced classes with students who just began taking advanced courses. The panel included: Amanda Jennings (world languages), Grant Wajciechowsk (math), Hunter Stanek (business), Emma Weber (social studies), Katherine Krievs (science), and Caroline Bowe (general knowledge). Throughout the meeting, attendees submitted questions live, and the panel answered them thoroughly, each member providing valuable advice. Organizers of the meeting hope that the session made an impact on those who attended by giving them concrete strategies to manage time and course material effectively. 

In the future, mentor meetings will continue in the form of panel and individual student-mentor appointments. At individual appointments, students will learn how to retain information in a variety of advanced level courses. Dr. Mooney reflects, “This is my first year Midlothian, and I learned very quickly that we have amazing students here. Our goal is help students support each other as we all strive for excellence”.  The Midlo mentoring program is the first step to achieve this goal.