Meadville MLK Mentoring Program participants recognized
The dismissal bell had already rung on the penultimate day of the school year, but it’s hard to imagine a more appropriate time to recognize participants in a Meadville Area Middle School (MAMS) after-school program that has been mentoring students, helping families and building community for nearly 15 years.
About 100 people gathered Wednesday afternoon in the MAMS library to mark the completion of another year for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Mentoring Program. Eleven program graduates were joined by family members, community leaders and volunteers who helped introduce the students to topics ranging from watershed ecology to sign language, from swimming to chess.
In addition to core instruction in math, science, English and physical fitness, the year-long program also took students off campus and into the community, including career-exploration field trips to local institutions like Meadville Medical Center and fun-exploration trips to places like Splash Lagoon, the indoor water park in Erie.
After guests reviewed an exhibit highlighting program events from throughout the year and enjoyed a buffet meal, Crawford County Commissioner Christopher Seeley, who chairs the MLK advisory board, called the program remarkable.
“They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of repair, and this is a fine example of that,” Seeley told the group. “These sorts of enrichment programs and these safe after-school places that have such capable administrators and teachers only succeed because of equally wonderful parents and, of course, our students. Every year, I’ve been able to come back here and see all of the activities that our students have done throughout the year, and it just boggles my mind.”
The mentoring program consisted of 30 students total this year. Nearly as many community volunteers who supported the program in a variety of ways were recognized during the program with literal gold stars — shiny five-pointed paperweights with their names engraved upon them.
Meeting Monday through Thursday for two hours after school each week, the enrichment provided by the program is lasting, according to two alumnae who followed Seeley to the lectern for brief remarks.
The first was Lillian Groover, who graduated from Meadville Area Senior High School this week with a weighted grade-point average of 4.2. Her enrollment in Thiel College this fall will be supported by the Meadville Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund scholarship she received last month. After participating in the mentoring program, Groover went on to serve as a program mentor.
“Back when I was in eighth grade, which was surprisingly five years ago, I sat right where you all are right now,” Groover said, addressing current program participants specifically as she recalled hands-on work in nearby creeks and visits to Ernst Conservation Seeds. “I joined the after-school program because I was just looking for something to do. I figured it would give me something to stay after school for so I wouldn’t have to ride the bus home and I could have some fun and make some friends. Little did I know, it would be completely life-changing.”
The second program grad to address the audience was Emily Peters, who graduated from Allegheny College last month. Peters recalled how the mentoring program changed her educational trajectory shortly after she arrived in Meadville from her native Germany, where she had struggled in school.
“The MLK program, for me, ended up being a place that I could go where I knew I could get the help that I needed to further hone my English skills or my writing skills, hone my reading skills and also get help with any math homework or English homework I might have had,” Peters said. “It was also a place to be after school that was fun, that was always welcoming, that had people that really cared about me and that just gave me a place to be in a relatively new environment.”
Armendia Dixon, who launched the program in 2010, served as mistress of ceremonies for the event and introduced the 11 graduates to the audience: Jocelyn Hart, Isaac Hathaway, Daniella Heeter, Quincy Jenkins, Arlan-Rayn Jordan, Gavin Kerr, Patience Owens, Andrew Sutton, Jacelyn Teel, Maverick Vetter and Darrell Wisniewski.