Archive: Around Town

William Lewis wants Lansing middle and high school students to Go Ment@l.  That may sound like a wacky spring break party, but in reality it stands for 'Mentoring At Lansing', a tutoring program Lewis spearheaded in 2011.  Since then the Lansing High School junior has been expanding the program, which now includes 29 tutors, all students, who regularly help their peers with tough subjects, especially math.

"Ment@l is a tutoring program that is active in the Lansing Middle School and Lansing High School," Lewis explains.  "It is available to all students who want to come and seek help.  Upper level students who excel in our classes are recruited as student tutors, so it operates on a completely peer-to-peer basis.  It is an agent of social change in the Lansing Central School District that will encourage an environment in which excelling academically and seeing academic help is encouraged."

Lewis started the program because he wanted to give back to the community.  He had been looking into existing community service programs, but wanted to do something he was passionate about.  That turned out to be helping fellow students do do better academically.  His team began tutoring at the middle school in the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, then added the high school last year.

He has promoted the program aggressively, making it part of morning announcements, plastering the schools with posters, and handing out Ment@l-branded pencils, magnets, buttons, bracelets and cards, which he says have been effective in encouraging students to seek help from the program.  He has presented to Lansing faculty, and last September he outlined the program for the Board Of Education.  A Go Ment@l Twitter feed keeps students up to date.

Ment@l focusses on test preparation in the high school, particularly for math classes, though all topics are fair game.  The greatest attendance is on Thursdays in preparation for Friday math tests.  The program takes a different approach in the Middle School, helping students with problem solving.  Regular sessions are scheduled, but students may receive individual help as well.  Regular meetings last 45 minutes, three times a week in the Middle School, and twice a week in the high school.


Lewis has partnered with other school clubs, and is reaching out to the athletics programs in both schools.  He plans to form a partnership with modified teams to augment work the program is doing with varsity and junior varsity teams now.

"In previous years varsity wrestling required all students on the team to attend Ment@l at least once a week, either to receive help or as tutors," Lewis says.  "We plan to expand this to other sports as well."

Tutors must have earned an A in the course they help students with.  They must demonstrate an understanding of the material and the ability to communicate it, and be recommended for the program by a teacher.

Some Middle School teachers offer extra credit for students who attend Ment@l sessions.  In the high school students are given a Ment@l-branded 'coffee card', with spaces to be initialed by a tutor each time they attend.  When the card is filled participating high school teachers award extra credit.  Lewis says all but a handful of teachers are offering extra credit for the cards.  He says some students are already working on a second card.

"Attending ten times shows a significant amount of devotion to increasing comprehension of a topic," Lewis says.  "The amount of extra credit is often not significant enough to skew grades, which is a concern of teachers who offer extra credit.  But it does provide the incentive to get students to attend for the first time.  After they attend for the first time they want to come back."

Lewis keeps detailed statistics on the success of the program, and tracks the success of efforts to attract and retain students.  So far the program has been successful.  He told the school board that students have been overwhelmingly positive about Ment@l and reported students have said the tutoring has positively impacted their test scores.

18 students from all four grade levels have been recruited to be tutors in the high school.  More than 57% of students have attended multiple sessions, and most of those are in the 9th or 10th grade, which Lewis attributes to their experience of the program in the Middle School.  The Middle School boasts 11 tutors who are 8th grade or high school teachers.  More than 50% come more than once and the highest number of students participating are in 5th and 6th grades.

But he is not resting on his laurels.  Lewis has plans to expand Ment@l and embed it into the fabric of the school system.  He is working with the principals and Superintendent Chris Pettograsso to become an official program.

"One of this top priorities right now is becoming a sanctioned group," Pettograsso says.  It is really between the principals and the superintendent signing off on those hours that tutors use.  We're going to be working with him on setting up some kind of accountability system."


"This year I plan to build a stronger relationship with various sports programs," Lewis says.  "In addition I plan for Ment@l become a not-for-profit organization with 501c tax exempt classification.  Once Ment@l becomes a not-for-profit organization it can more easily be referenced as a community service project, and receive funding."

In addition to heading Ment@l, Lewis is co-president of the high school math club, on the varsity wrestling team, and serves on the school district's Superintendent Advisory Committee.

"I hope Ment@l can become a sanctioned community service activity within the Lansing Central School District," he said.  "If I can get the approval of the school board, it will help entice tutors to participate because they can use it on their college resumes and make the program more official.  That will encourage more students to seek help."

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