Freshmen mentoring is a program that the National Honors Society at Prep provides for all freshmen. Once a month for a year, NHS members hold short meetings during lunches to talk with the freshmen in their assigned group. Freshmen mentoring is a tool that is offered in order to ease the stress that starting high school can bring. Along with guidance counselors, the NHS freshmen mentors encourage their mentees to become active in school events and stay on top of their work. Each month brings a new topic for students to discuss.

“Within the meetings, the goal is to generate conversation about important topics like social life, planning for the next semester, and getting involved in the school,” Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs Mrs. Seip said. “The upperclassmen can give freshmen a window into their own experiences so that they know they aren’t the only ones having to make hard decisions.”

This freshmen mentoring program started with the consolidation between Prep and Villa a few years ago. It was an idea that came from a Villa student right before the consolidation happened. The current freshmen mentoring program is similar to the Big Sisters and Little Sisters program that Villa had. Freshmen mentoring is a resource for students to have to get advice from upperclassmen about academics, clubs, sports, activities, and social life.

“The main goal for this program is to give the freshmen an upperclassmen that they can have a connection with,” Mrs. Seip explained. “My hope is that the freshmen know that they can contact an upperclassman with any questions and will use that tool if they need it.”

Not only is this program helpful for freshmen, it also provides helpful insight for the NHS mentors who lead the freshmen groups.

“I became a freshmen mentor to connect with the underclassmen,” Senior Mya Schenker said. “I wanted to tell them about my high school experiences to help them with their own. I enjoy helping out the freshmen and giving them advice for high school.”