New Mentoring Program at Cook Literacy Model School

In the Winston-Salem Journal, reporter Arika Herron writes about a new mentor program at Cook Literacy Model School. Here is an excerpt:

When 8-year-old Alexis Bowman caught sight of Juanita Flemming, the second-grader at Cook Literacy Model School ran into Flemming’s waiting arms.

They just met about six weeks ago, matched through Cook’s new partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters, but Flemming said she and her “little sister” are already developing a close bond. For an hour every other week, Flemming meets with Alexis at the school. Sometimes they eat lunch together and read; other times, Flemming sits in class with Alexis and helps her with her work.

Alexis said she has fun reading with her “big sister” and likes it when she comes to class.

“It’s special,” Alexis said. “We’re doing fun things together.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters is one of many new initiatives at Cook this year, in its first year of a whole-school restart plan aimed to take the school from lowest-performing in the state to a place of growth and higher achievement. While planning for her school over the summer, Principal Paula Wilkins set a goal to find mentors for each of her students.

“Research shows that connectedness is the key,” Wilkins said.

You will find the rest of the story at Winston-Salem Journal