Mission West Virginia Mentors Report Positive Impact on Student Outcomes
The Bridge Program’s Check & Connect Trained Mentors Improve Graduation Rates
Article originally posted in Check & Connect national newsletter in May 2022
Mission West Virginia is a non-profit organization that has been dedicated to serving children and families in the areas of foster care, adoption, kinship care, and teen health since 1997. Based out of Hurricane, WV, Mission West Virginia’s programs serve children and families throughout the state. The Bridge , one of the non-profit’s programs, has been devoted to serving West Virginia youth in foster care and kinship care since 2017. Funding for The Bridge began with help from the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation and now includes support from the West Virginia Department of Education and the Milan Puskar Foundation.
Trained in the Check & Connect model, The Bridge mentors are guided by the ABC Plus model and review attendance, behavior, and course performance data to develop personalized support. In the model, “plus” refers to critical elements that contribute to the overall success of children in care and include building a mindset of persistence and creating student-centered plans.
We recently spoke with Ashley Arthur, Program Manager, about partnering with stakeholders, the work of mentors, and the positive outcomes they have seen. Other Bridge leaders are Kelly Thompson, Executive Director and Kristy Belt, Lead Mentor. Together they collaborate with a wide variety of community and school stakeholders to improve outcomes for students in foster care.
To increase support and buy-in, Arthur and Thompson built relationships at the state and district education levels. Arthur described the strong support their program receives from Superintendent Jacob Green and the West Virginia Department of Education. At the district level, Arthur receives support from Dr. Jon Duffy, Director of Counseling and Testing, Kanawha County Schools. Arthur was able to build trust with the community and schools in Kanawha County because the community trusted Duffy. That connection helped schools, in turn, trust The Bridge program and mentors.
The Bridge staff fosters support and partnerships from the local business communities as well. Arthur, for example, developed a relationship with a local wedding shop in one community. Happily, this shop donated tuxedos for the young men in the program so they could go to prom. As the Program Manager, Arthur continuously builds and maintains relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders. She recognizes how these partners and champions contribute to the sustainability and growth of the program.
Arthur also supports the program by building relationships with schools. To illustrate collaboration, Arthur mentioned that Bridge mentors reached out to high school counselors to plan for student success in the transition from middle school to high school. As a result, now high school counselors take Bridge mentors with them to the middle schools to speak with 8th graders and facilitate informational interviews to plan the transition.
With mentors as the foundation of their program, Thompson looks for one key trait when hiring: a belief that all students can achieve. Additionally, The Bridge leadership recognizes that success happens over time, consistency is key, and mentors need on-going support. To support mentors, meetings occur every other month to reconnect as a team, share successes, and celebrate the wins of mentors and students.
The Bridge mentors focus on high school students, work full time as mentors located in school buildings, have a classroom, and work side by side with school counselors and other school staff. Referrals for the program come from school administrative staff, school counselors, and students already in the program. Arthur said that students currently in the program often say to their mentor that they have a friend who could really use this help too, which speaks to how much students value their relationship with mentors and the progress they see themselves making.
Several years ago, Belt, now the Lead Mentor, was the first to attend Check & Connect Mentor training. Since that time, new mentors have participated in self-paced online mentor training to acquire and hone their skills. Belt is both a mentor and an important lead helping to on-board new mentors. Arthur shared that, “Kristy’s heart is in the schools, and new mentors shadow her as part of the on-boarding process.”
Arthur reinforced an important reminder that these students often focus on simply making it through each day. She said that Belt and other mentors make sure they meet students where they are, help them manage expectations and responsibilities, and celebrate every success. Arthur notes “A win looks different for each student. It might start with success at getting missing assignments turned in. We accomplish one thing at a time, and all these small successes add up over time to something the student may not have thought they were able to achieve!”
Weekly, mentors consistently track ABC data and share tangible changes with students on what they were able to achieve. They build capacity in the students, in part, by making sure students know that they themselves achieved the success they may not have thought was possible. Arthur celebrates mentors like Belt and the team who, “…wholeheartedly believe in every single student they have and are persistent. They have the consistent belief that students can achieve success.”
Importantly, The Bridge mentors help students set tangible, achievable goals. During goal setting, mentors consider the financial impact and transportation concerns with students. Notes Arthur, “Transportation can be a huge barrier! We are grateful when we get local community partners to donate gas cards.”
Mentors also make sure every student has a sustainable post-secondary plan in place when they graduate. Students may be caregivers to grandparents and younger siblings. Arthur understands, “It is important to recognize they (students) may be supporting people they care about at home, want to sustain those relationships, and this needs to be considered in their post-secondary plan so it is realistic and sustainable.” Consequently, mentors focus on what the best decision is for the student and stress there are multiple ways to be successful.
Every member of The Bridge program wants students to have as many typical high school experiences as possible, such as senior pictures. This tradition is not a guarantee for many students for several reasons, so Arthur leverages her photography skills and takes senior pictures for students at no cost. She travels to the school so there are no transportation concerns. In addition, students receive a $75.00 Shutterfly gift card to use as they wish. They may order more pictures, graduation announcements, or whatever they want. Arthur learned that one student who was raised by their grandmother ordered a coffee mug with their graduation picture on it. The student wished to thank the grandmother and provide a constant reminder that they successfully completed high school!
The Bridge program has seen incredible success. Their outcome measures to date include:
100% high school graduation rate
100% have a post-secondary plan in place when they graduation
Other measures of success are shown in the connections between mentors and students. For example, when one of Belt’s students was selected to be in the National Honor Society, Belt was invited to attend the induction ceremony and celebrate with the student. Another student was being honored at a local trade school for their academic achievement, and they also invited their mentor to attend the recognition ceremony.
Over time, community partners and schools have begun to see success and the program has recently expanded with the addition of four new full-time mentors. More mentors mean more students can be supported, and each new mentor will serve 33 students. The Bridge is currently serving approximately 150 children and plans on adding another mentor this summer. As Arthur said, “Although we are small, we are beyond thrilled to experience so much growth in a short amount of time.”
Congratulations to Mission West Virginia, The Bridge leadership, and mentors for their dedication to supporting students in foster care, adoption, kinship care, and teen health.