Campus friends
Callie Monroe and Jaimee Ellsworth have known each other only a few months, but they’ve become close friends. They both love the color pink, they love shopping, and they love school. Every Tuesday the two get together. They laugh a lot and talk about everything – their weekend, their homework, their families. Monroe is a Gonzaga University psychology major from Missoula. Jaimee is a fourth-grader from Logan Elementary. The two spend time together through Gonzaga’s Campus Kids mentoring program.
Now in its 10th year, the program has become one of Gonzaga’s Center for Community Action and Service-Learning’s most successful programs.
The program pairs GU students with fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders from Logan, Stevens, Garfield and Bemiss Elementary schools. Twenty students from each school participate.
One day a week the kids ride an after-school activities bus to the campus, where they are met by their mentor. Boys are paired with males and girls with females.
The group gets together for a snack, followed by individual tutoring and finally an educational, interactive group activity.
On a recent Tuesday, Jaimee and Monroe were working on homework.
“She told me to study until I’m sick of it. Write out your spelling words,” said Jaimee.
“It’s paying off,” Monroe said. “Last week Jaimee did so awesome on her test.
“I can’t believe how hard her spelling words are.”
Jaimee demonstrates by spelling “audience” and “astronaut” correctly.
Amy McGreevy, an Americorps volunteer, is the Campus Kids coordinator. The process begins with teacher referrals of at-risk children, those who can benefit from extra attention and those who may need a little extra push to succeed.
McGreevy said the most important thing the students offer the kids is their presence.
“They get individual attention. One person is focusing on them,” McGreevy said.
This is the third year that sixth-grader Trey Mims, 11, has been a Campus Kid. His mentor is Dave Arkoosh, a junior accounting and finance major from Boise.
Arkoosh became his mentor last spring.
The kids were filling out their wish list for the upcoming Campus Kids’ Christmas party. Trey wrote “football” on his list. Arkoosh clarified, “That’s a full-sized regular football. No Nerf balls.”
Arkoosh said he became a mentor because he wanted to become more involved in the community.
“I know that sounds like a cliché, but I’ve got the time, and I like hanging out with Trey,” Arkoosh said.
In addition to their Tuesday visits, Arkoosh goes to Trey’s classroom and spends time with him there, as do many of the mentors.
McGreevy said 140 Gonzaga students applied for the 80 mentoring positions. It’s a yearlong commitment, with a minimum of 17 hours each month. The mentors also spend a Saturday once a month with the kids doing a group activity such as skating.
The program uses the STAR rules of behavior: safety first, try your best, all included, and respect.
The kids are rewarded for positive behavior, good grades and improvement. Lottery tickets are given out, and the winner receives a Payday candy bar.
The Payday Award is a really big deal to the kids. It stands for “Pretty Awesome Youth Darn Alright Yeah.”
Amy Ryan, a freshman from Eugene, Ore., is mentoring 10-year-old Tabitha Lovins and studying psychology.
“I’m studying school,” said Tabitha, a fifth-grader. Tabitha’s favorite thing about Campus Kids is having Ryan as her mentor.
After becoming a Campus Kid, Tabitha said t she is definitely going to attend college and that she’s planning to get a scholarship.
Ryan said she wants to be a good role model for Tabitha.
“I love working with kids. I worked as a nanny this last summer. There’s something about them – the innocence, the realness, their honesty,” Ryan said.