MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Wednesday was the first day of the 2023 REAL (Read, Excel, Achieve and Lead) program, a mentoring program between Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) and the Early Childhood Department and Scholastics Education Solutions.
MSCS said they recruit employees, which are men, from the district to come into the classroom to be mentors to students. They have 45 men who consistently sign up for the mentorship program, and the men can choose which school they want to mentor at. This is the second year they have done the program, which Dr. Felicia Fowler, Senior Account Executive of Scholastic Education Solutions, said is a way to build family and community engagement.
“As we get older, we have to monitor them. Not "Walk like us," or "Talk like us," but "Be better than us." So, we have to model that for them and be there for them, so that they have connections," said Ma’ani Martin, READ mentor.
Dr. Kendra Hightower, Principal of Ridgeway Learning Center, said it is important for children to see men reading to them in the classrooms, because most of the time, their teachers are women.
“Most of the time, when you ask them who reads to them at home, it’s Mommy," she said.
Teachers saw the impact of the REAL program even after the mentors left the classroom, according to Dr. Terica Butler, Director of Development and Implementation at Scholastic Education Solutions. They saw that their students were more likely to persevere and "had greater motivation as it relates to literacy.
“When mentors come into the school, everybody wins. The entire community wins," said Butler.