As a part of an Honors College course and the civic engagement area of the Honors College Assembly, students are now able to give back by mentoring at Holt, Matthews and Maxwell elementary schools.

 “This year, the program is being taken to the next level with expansion to another elementary school,” said Kathryn Merritt, an instructor of the University Honors course.

She said the mentoring expanded to Maxwell Elementary this year and one of the goals is to support and enhance teacher programs.

“This also is due to meet the large amount of honors college students that want to give back to their community,” she said.

Students participate in the program for many reasons.

 “I grew up in Tuscaloosa and went to school here so being a part of this program seemed like a natural fit for me and helped with my desire to want to give back,” said Mike Zhang, a junior majoring in biology.

He said the mentors started mentoring last week, and he is a student leader at Holt Elementary.

“Last year, I served as a student leader for a talented group of students called the innovators, which taught them skills that helped to develop skills that would be helpful in middle school,” he said.

He said last year the innovators explored spaces through projects.

“We brought in a mechanical engineering student that helped the students launch rockets they designed,” he said. “They learned about design forces and flight.”

Currently, Zhang is a student leader for third graders and said this school year the program is more based on homework help and things of that nature.

“Before, the program was more student driven but now it will attempt to meet the specific academic needs that the teachers suggest for the students,” Merritt said. “We felt that this was the best way to move forward.”

The University Honors course Honors Mentoring also teaches the students about the poverty levels in Alabama and how it in turn affects education.

One of the goals of this program is for college students to serve as mentors to the students. They therefore also aim to help with yearly progress tests and individual student progress.

“Holt did better last year on the annual yearly progress than they had done previously,” Merritt said.

Merritt said the mentoring program was connected to the capstone mentors, but when the honors college assembly started, they began to work with the new organization.

“We now work alongside the civic engagement committee with the HCA,” she said. “They work strongly in the area of outreach and they have helped us take the program to the next level.”

Some of the mentors return each semester, and the kids are always so excited to see the mentors and meet the new ones, Merritt said.

“The kids are very excited and so far the mentoring is going great,” Zhang said.

“After just the first week, the initial comments have been very positive about the program,” Merritt said. “We have taken an active role in working with the students, teachers and student leaders to make this a successful team effort.”