World Changers Mentor Elementary Students
The Human Empowerment Life Project (H.E.L.P.) started in 2015 in response to a need to urgently improve the educational outcomes for students in a public-school system of a neighboring community. Through H.E.L.P. Andrews University volunteers seek to support the Benton Harbor Area Schools (BHAS) in its efforts to:
• Develop reading comprehension
• Improve school culture and climate
• Increase ELA test results of all students in participating grades
In weekly enrichment sessions, volunteers help reinforce positive values, develop literacy, improve metacognition, and build a sense of psychological belonging among elementary students. The cultural and ethnical diversity of the university is reflected amongst the volunteers. The presence of students from multiple academic programs provides additional learning opportunities for the elementary students to learn of varied career options.
Each semester, volunteers observe improved engagement, self-regulation, and understanding of the values shared. At its highest point, more than 140 Andrews University students, faculty and staff volunteered to deliver the weekly program to almost 460 Benton Harbor students in grades 1-5 classrooms. The learning among university volunteers is priceless. Students receive training in diversity, classroom management, and become trauma aware. Sessions give students opportunities for personal and professional development, allows them to engage in civic-learning and build empathy. Hundreds of university volunteers have participated in the program since its inception. The volunteers are transported each week on university buses.
In the spring of 2020, H.E.L.P. was modified from a Tier 1 to a Tier 2 intervention that sought to provide one-to-one support for targeted grade 3 students. The change sought to increase the number of students promoted: New regulations in Michigan require students with a reading proficiency more that grade level behind be retained (Senate Bill 4822, 2016). This modification sought to improve reading comprehension to reduce the number of students retained as a result of the law We are observing many positive outcomes from this weekly intervention. With time and commitment, we hope to continue to build a pipeline to success.
The program was the result of a collaboration with Communities in Schools and sponsored in part by the Berrien Community Foundation.
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