Mission Statement:
The purpose of the Morris Academy Mentorship Program is to forge strong one-on-one relationships and bonds of trust between select students at Morris Academy and caring adults willing to guide, counsel and commit themselves to those students.
Program Overview:
Morris Academy Mentors (the “Program” or “MAM”) is a mentoring program targeted to the needs of high school students at the Morris Academy of Collaborative Studies (“Morris Academy”), a New York City public high school located in the Morrisania neighborhood of the Bronx. Morris Academy Mentors is made up of an all volunteer team of working professionals who live in and around New York City. As of July 2006, the team consisted of 25 volunteer mentors and several full-time teachers and administrators from Morris Academy.
The Morris Academy Mentoring program pairs caring adults with motivated high-school students from Morris Academy looking for positive role models seeking to become a consistent presence in their lives. The Program serves as an extension of the school’s mission to foster a collaborative community and develop student leaders who will serve their community with character. The primary purpose of the Program is two-fold: (1) to connect students with professional interests, and (2) to build lasting relationships between students and mentors who are able to develop those interests. The aim of the mentoring program is also to provide a platform for Morris Academy students to develop in a non-academic setting.
Mentoring sessions are held on two Saturdays per month during the academic year. In order to maximize the level of exposure for both mentors and students to each other’s respective surroundings, locations of such sessions are staggered between being held at the Morris High campus and various meeting locations in Manhattan. Each event, which last two-three hours, consists of a structured group activity intertwined with one-on-one time with individual mentors and students.
The Program focuses on group mentoring activities meant to teach practical life lessons, stimulate interaction between mentors and students and encourage students to pursue their individual goals. At a higher level, the Program also provides students with applied guidance to benefit them in their current academic studies, prepare them for college and help them become well-rounded, confident and functioning contributors to their community.
In addition, MAM hosts recreational events to foster relationship-building between mentors and students. These events have included attending Yankees baseball games, NBA basketball games, and musicals, and also participating in group events like ice-skating, bowling and laser tag.
