Strive Mentors and Students: Annual Strive Celebration
Our May 7 meeting was held at Eden Prairie High School and devoted to celebrating another successful year of mentoring EPHS students through the longtime STRIVE program.
In STRIVE, Rotarians from the A.M. and Noon clubs – as well as other community members – are each matched with an EPHS junior or senior, and meet every few weeks during the school year to discuss school performance and make plans for post-secondary life, including college.
Superintendent of Schools Josh Swanson welcomed students, mentors, and other A.M. Rotarians, and had some advice for students participating in the program: stay connected with your mentor; find new mentors as you continue through life; and mentor other people.
Much of the rest of the celebration had mentors and their students offering testimonials to the program’s good work. “This girl is going to do big things in life,” Judy Orrock said about her mentee, who is headed to Winona State University to study psychology.
Added mentor Elaine Larabee about her five years involved in the program: “It has changed my life, in ways I never expected.”
Students were equally effusive, and encouraged more mentors to step forward. Said one: “It’s awesome to have someone invested in you!”
For more information about STRIVE, contact Elaine Larabee or school staffer Lisa Wood, who heads up the mentorship program.