Middle School FLOW Mentoring

At the middle school level, FLOW Mentoring carefully selects approximately 15-20 students from each school that would most benefit from small group mentoring. These students are matched in groups of 4-5 with a caring and responsible teacher or staff mentor. Under the guidance of a school Site Leader, mentors and their mentees participate in strategic programming to help build social, emotional, academic, and practical skills. FLOW Mentoring meets after school for one and a half hours every week throughout the academic year.

Program activities include:

• Team building activities and games to build a sense of trust and community.

• Discussion topics relevant to the issues and needs of the group (in small or large groups);

• Academic activities and homework support with the intention of drawing connections between academic and real-world success;

• Helping mentees develop a set of short and long-term goals to achieve during the course of the year—academic, social, and personal;

• Designing and performing service-learning projects that will build a sense of community and fulfill needs of the school or the greater St. Mary’s County community;

• Making short videos/presentations on a variety of constructive topics;

• Going on fun field trips to educational sites to provide exposure to new ideas and learning opportunities;

• Participating in programming by Tri-County Youth Services and St. Mary’s County Health Department on topics such as “Managing Emotions”, “Social Skill Development”, “Leadership Development” and various health-related subjects;

• Bringing professionals from the community, including military professionals, health professionals, business professionals, and entrepreneurs into FLOW programs to share their experience and to provide career and job readiness insight;

• Bringing college clubs and sports teams to FLOW programs for mini-workshops on college life, sportsmanship, college preparedness, etc; and,

• Bringing skilled individuals from the community into FLOW programs to share their particular skill or interest.