Andrew's Story

Story written by Mission WV Bridge Program Mentor

Names of students changed to protect their identity.

I have a student who eats lunch in my room with me almost daily. For this story, we will call him Andrew. Andrew used to pull out his iPad and pretend he had work to get done. While some days he did have school work,  I could tell he had nowhere and no one to sit with at lunch. I didn't mind that he would eat lunch in my room.

After a few months, another student comes in at lunch to do some work. We will call him Lincoln. Lincoln recognizes Andrew. "Hey, don't you have Green for English? I think I sit three seats behind you." Andrew says, "Oh yea. Hey." Then continues, "Do you think you can help me with this Romeo and Juliet assignment? I can't find these vocabulary words online."

The next thing I know, my two students are working together on an assignment, laughing and joking. Over the next few weeks, Lincoln occasionally stopped to chat with Andrew on lunch. Their relationship began to form, and they quickly became good friends.

Today, I noticed them walking down the hallway together, laughing.

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The Bridge program guides foster care students towards their education goals. We know that when students stay in school, they can envision a positive future. We support 200 students each year on their respective journey with educational advocacy, mentoring, student enrichment, college funding support and post-secondary education planning.

This mentoring relationship has resulted in continuous improvements in their academic performance, specifically attendance, behavior, and grades. Most encouraging is that every high school senior goes on to pursue a post-secondary education plan.