Wonderful RAISE program returns to WWHS for another year

The RAISE In School Mentoring Opportunity program has returned to Wee Waa High School for another year with mentors and mentees meeting last week.

The successful program has been running at WWHS for three years.

“We’ve seen great results with confidence development, improvements in communication and self-awareness,” said WWHS principal Annabel Doust.

“We are so lucky to have a community that supports this program each year.

“Many of our mentors say that they also get a great deal out of it.”

The mentoring program for high school students is also known in its abbreviated form as ‘Ismo’ (In School Mentoring Opportunity) and it is run in Wee Waa, Narrabri, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Newcastle, Geelong and Young.

A qualified program counsellor engages with the school and brings a group of local volunteer mentors into the school for an hour each week at a consistent time for one-on-one mentoring and support sessions.

Students are invited to attend the Ismo program by teachers who feel the student might benefit from having a ‘neutral’ positive role model in their lives – a mentor that’s not a teacher or a parent. Students have to volunteer to be involved in the program and their parent or carer gives consent for their child to attend .

The mentoring program is run throughout terms two and three and concludes with a graduation celebration at the end to recognise the work of mentors and students.