By KRISTIN HODGES

kdh027@latech.edu

 

Tech students have a chance to change the lives of Lincoln Parish high school students through education, and while giving only their time, make a difference in Louisiana.

Student Government Association is recruiting students to become mentors to high school students in Lincoln Parish.

Jenny Quinnelly, SGA adviser and coordinator of student activities, said the mentor program was started from a statewide initiative to find the solution to poverty in Louisiana.

“The SGA felt that the education of our youth could be one way that we can help bring down the poverty level in our state,” Quinnelly said.

Laura Hogan, SGA sophomore class president and English education major, said students should give back to the community. By mentoring, Tech students are helping change poverty in Louisiana.

“Louisiana’s economic situation is in the state it is in because we have a lack of education,” Hogan said. “It is in everyone’s best interest to have a more educated body of citizens.”

She also said, “If Louisiana’s level of education changes, the poverty rate also changes.”

Quinnelly said the main purpose of the program is to supply high school students with the tools needed to make an educated decision about college and their careers. The mentors help achieve this through study sessions, computer skills and preparations for standardized tests.

“When SGA asked high school students what would make an impact on their decision to go to college, they said they wanted interaction with students who were already in college,” Quinnelly said.

Hogan said by putting in the hours working with a high school student, Tech students are getting career experience and contributing to the future of Louisiana.

Hogan said, “Tech students will benefit from being a mentor because it is a service learning opportunity. They are gaining valuable life skills all the while making a difference in a child’s life.”

For education, psychology and counseling majors, the mentoring is a great hands-on experience that is applicable to the mentors’ future careers, Hogan said.

Joi Chadwick, a senior music major, said high school students being mentored receive guidance from someone who is in the situation they will be in after graduation.

“Mentoring would help [high school] students figure things out better because it would give them one more way by which to be informed about these decisions they are making,” Chadwick said.

All Tech students interested in becoming a mentor need to attend the mentor program’s informational meetings held at 4 p.m., Wednesday and 6 p.m., Thursday in Davison Hall, Room 113. Applications will be available at the meetings.