About
Purpose
The Starr Hill Pathways Mentoring program focuses on fostering positive youth development by enhancing self-efficacy and encouraging growth mindsets through small group, in-school mentoring activities led by a combination of Starr Hill Pathways staff, community partners, and college students serving as mentors for our scholars. By adopting a strength-based approach and fostering critical consciousness, the mentorship will support self-awareness and help students navigate the unique barriers they face along their educational journeys.
"They like to understand you, they know what you're going through." - A Starr Hill Pathways Scholar
Our scholars participate in mentoring activities at their schools and during Starr Hill Pathways programming days where there is structured time built into our schedule to provide activities focused on self-reflection, community connection, and future aspirations. As students grow in our program from 7th to 12th grade, the topics explored for mentees will build from identity development and social emotional learning to social awareness, leadership, and postsecondary readiness.”
Goals
- Cultivate self-efficacy and resilience to strengthen our scholars' growth mindsets and grit.
- Foster self-determination in our scholars, empowering them to pave their own paths in their educational journey.
- Strengthen the social-emotional skills of self-awareness, self-management, and responsible decision-making
Essential Definitions
- What is Self-Efficacy?
Self-efficacy is the belief that a person can do what it takes to reach their goals. In other words, students with strong self-efficacy believe they can take action to change their future.
- What is Resilience?
Resilience is often defined by someone’s ability to adapt to a difficult situation, but we go a step back. Resilience does not happen in a vacuum, and we don’t expect children to bounce back without help. We are interested in how resilience is built from support systems, experiences, networks, and our student’s ability to navigate resources and ask for help.
- What is a Growth Mindset?
Growth mindset is the attitude that determines how you will respond to difficult situations. People with a growth mindset believe that they can learn new skills even if it is difficult; this is in comparison to people with a fixed mindset, who believe that they do not have the capacity to develop new talents.
