Entering to Serve: Exploring the Symbiotic Impacts of HBCU Mentors in a public Elementary School

• In Event: University/K-12 Collaborations

Abstract

Content-based tutoring and literacy intervention are the leading forms of outside support often offered to elementary school children from neighboring Universities. However, gaps in minoritized children’s academic progress across all subjects (especially in high-need, underserved communities) caused by centuries of racist policies and practices still prevail. Therefore, instead of developing another tutoring program, the author created an opportunity for the students in two HBCU courses to serve as mentors to elementary school children in the local school district via the Radical Academic Mentoring Service (RAMS) Program. The mentoring program provides a counterspace for the elementary school children and their University mentors. The experience has shown that all participants in the study are being positively impacted by the mentoring relationship. Participants benefit because mentoring relationships are symbiotic: the mentor gains compassion and an authentic understanding of the course content, and the mentee gains confidence and social-emotional support.

Author

• Dawn Hicks Tafari, Winston-Salem State University