New program in Fort Plain gives each seventh grade student a staff mentor

   When seventh grader Spencer Mang has trouble with his schedule or in one of his classes, he knows he can rely on Fort Plain Jr./Sr. High School English teacher Louise Clute for help.

Whether it’s first thing in the morning, during lunch, or even after school, Mrs. Clute and five other seventh grade teachers—Maria Burton, Laurie Capece, Kathleen DeKalb, Lynette Palmeri, and Julianne Sincavage— are available to help their students with the sometimes difficult transition from sixth to seventh grade.

As part of the newly-developed core support program, each of the teachers acts as a mentor for about 10 students. In the program, the teachers assign each student to a 45-minute class at the beginning of the day for a 10-week block. The classes include a math and writing workshop, a home and careers class, and classes in music and computers. At the end of the 10-week block, students move to another class.

The teachers designed the classes to build core skills. And if a student is having difficulty in a certain subject, the teacher can take him or her out of an assigned class and work on the subject one-on-one.

“It’s such a big shift from sixth to seventh grade and many of these students play sports and find themselves getting home later and having less time for homework,” Mrs. Clute said. “In my writing workshop, the students work on writing skills and we reinforce what they learn in class.

“My 10 students are doing well. One student forgot to do his math homework and he knew he could come to me.”

Spencer said he’s already benefited from the program.

“It’s been good for me,” he said. “Mrs. Clute helps me with my computer work and I know she can help with anything.”

Jr. /Sr. High School Principal Deborah Larrabee said the goal of the program is to “make students successful” from an early age. “With the newly-implemented Common Core Learning Standards, it’s important for students to focus on core development from the earliest age possible,” she said.

The Common Core Learning Standards require higher-level reasoning in reading and math, in addition to a requirement that much more of the analysis of teacher, administrator and student performance be data-driven.

Mrs. Clute – who visited other school districts to see their programs – said Fort Plain implemented the first-year support program early in the year because the state ELA and math assessment tests will be given in April instead of May.

“We see who struggle, and we really wanted to help them before April,” she said.

“We know that the students will work hard all year, so after the assessments, the fourth quarter will have all enrichment programs where we’ll do fun activities.”