PALMETTO, Fla. — Two Manatee County schools have teamed up to start a new mentoring program pairing high school students with elementary students, and administrators say it’s proving to be a success.

“It’s a true team work activity, but the only way it’s going to work is if you work together and if you communicate,” said Susie Ebbesmeyer, Palmetto Elementary’s Assistant Principal, as she explained the activity to students in the mentorship program.

What You Need To Know

  • Mentorship program pairs elementary students with high school students

  • Program is geared towards young men in Palmetto High School's leadership program

  • Administrators say it’s important to provide younger kids with the visual of where they’re going, so they know they’re capable and have something to work towards

High school senior Amoriaus Jefferson and fourth grader Joiden Moon listen and learn. 

“You have to talk, and communicate and work together so the ball doesn’t hit the ground,” Ebbesmeyer said.

They’re off to a good start — high school mentors and their mentees working together, which is the focus of all the activities for students in the mentor program.

“This is the leadership program,” said Amoriaus. “It’s from Palmetto High School, we just started it this year. We come here and mentor kids, like Joiden, and have fun games and activities with them.”

The leadership program is a class at Palmetto High School geared towards young men, like Amoriaus, where they work on skills to prepare them for college, and while the games seem like playtime, school administrators say the leadership skills have a trickle down effect on the younger kids, like Joiden, who just turned 10, and admits prior to having a mentor, he wasn’t doing his best at school.

“It helped more than I expected because I used to be doing bad, but now I’m doing really good,” said Joiden.

Now, Amoriaus and Joiden both have something to look forward to every week, and Ebbesmeyer says the counseling the high school students do, on the sidelines of the games, gets through to the younger boys more than any adult at the school ever could, something they are proof of.

“We kind of act the same-ish, and we just have this unique bond ever since we met,” Joiden said. 

And just like the high schoolers’ shirts read, LEADERS: Encourage, Achieve, Dream, Empower and Respect.

Students in the mentor program also visited the high school student’s school.   

Administrators say it’s important to provide them with the visual of where they’re going, so they know they’re capable and have something to work towards.