Alliance for College-Ready
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Los Angeles, CA 90014
Phone: 213.943.4930
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email: info@laalliance.org
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Parents as Partners in Education
Inspired by a desire to assist their children to become highly successful students, Alliance parents pledged to learn academic mentoring skills, and The Parent Mentor Program was born.
Using a mentoring process called the “Six Conversations,” Alliance parents are mentoring Alliance teens as a way to develop effective and powerful students. The Mentor program trains parents to be meaningfully involved in the academic life of students in a non-judgmental relationship.
The first group of Parent Mentors from Huntington Park College-Ready Academy High School with Alliance CEO Judy Burton and John Hyland who designed the mentor program (standing in rear).“The mentor relationship gives a student the undivided attention on academics that may not be available at home,” explains Mary Silva, Director, Parent Community Engagement for the Alliance. “Mentor skills can be mastered by all parents to help students at school and at home.”
The Parent Mentor Program began at Huntington Park College-Ready Academy High School, expanded to College-Ready Academy High School and will extend to all Alliance schools soon. Parents learn how to develop a rapport with students that encourages open and reflective conversation about schoolwork. From open questions such as “How did that big biology project turn out?” to organizing a notebook (no love poems or notes to pals), the training arms mentors with strategies that can guide students to make effective learning choices. “Parents are shown that mentoring is not about intervening or telling kids what they should be doing,” explains Dr. John Hyland, designer and trainer of the Program. “We are preparing young adults to stand on their own two feet.”
Claudia Sarabia’s son is a student at HPCRA. She took the training with a dozen other parents and has begun mentoring a classmate of his. “I want to help kids,” she says. “ I feel good about what we can do.” Mrs. Sarabia meets with her mentee every Monday for about an hour. “Next week we’ll talk about the subject she likes best in school.” She adds that the mentor strategies she uses on Mondays are useful at home with her three children.
Dr. Hyland and the trained mentors meet together once a week, too. “They see how important this is. Mentoring is not about helping a student get a better grade in algebra. It’s about building an ethical educated adult. We’ll change the school one student at a time.”