The Mentoring Matters program of the Pike County Aim Project celebrated the success of the yearlong program designed to offer peer-to-peer mentoring that involved training high school students to mentor to middle school students.

The local program provides the opportunity for 20-24 Charles High School students, grades 10 through 12, to be mentors to seventh- and eighth-grade students at Charles Henderson Middle School.

“AIM for Hope is a non-profit organization that was started in 1997 in Troy to educate and motivate local teens to pursue abstinent lifestyle choices,” said Cora McMaster, program executive director. “AIM started in Pike County but, in almost 20 yeas of existence, has expanded to more than six counties and serves more than 50,000 youths and families.”

McMaster said that, at Charles Henderson middle and high schools, AIM utilizes the Mentoring Matters program and facilitates the STD program to ninth grade.

“These programs started at Charles Henderson High School in 1998,” she said. “The mentor program is a peer-to-peer during-school program that involves training high school students to mentor middle school students. The program utilizes teens who will be positive role models committed to abstinence from sex, drinking, smoking, and drugs.” This program is funded by the City of Troy and the Charles Henderson Children’s Health Center. “

McMaster said nearly 100 students applied to the program during the 2015-2016 school year but only between 20 and 24 were chosen. Applicants must have a 3.0 grade point average or higher to apply and they must be in good standing with discipline. Those who qualify must complete an application and then they are called for an interview. The applications and interviews determine which applicants are accepted.

“After the selection process, mentors then attend a one-day training,” McMaster said. “The students give up their time to participate in this training because it is on a Saturday. At this training, students are taught classroom management skills, about drugs and alcohol, influences of the media, and then the mentors teach back individual lessons from the curriculum.”

The mentors teach seventh- and eighth-grade students once a month, January through April. They teach six periods each session. There are four to five mentors per teaching group.

The middle school students are taught during their physical education classes.

The Mentoring Matters program includes lessons in self-esteem, goals and media influence; bullies, peer pressure and alcohol; healthy relationships; and smart vs. not so smart, including principles of a healthy relationship, conflict and jealousy.