The program began in the winter of 1997 when Elliot Ketay, a guidance counselor at Oxbow, approached the Tucker Foundation with the idea that a unique partnership could be formed between the two schools. Ketay remarks, "When we started this program, I told the Dartmouth students that I hoped they would get as much out of the experience from knowing my kids as my students would from knowing them." Now entering into its second full year of operation, the benefits have indeed proven to be mutual. Through building trusting and supportive relationships, the Dartmouth students help promote self-esteem and build confidence among Oxbow students about their ability to direct their own futures. 7th grader Molly Bowman writes, "Talking about something and having someone else understand so well helped us get through the first stressful quarter of middle school." According to Ketay, some students who had never thought about higher education now speak with him about college planning.
Success at Oxbow is only half the story. Back home on the Hanover plain, Dartmouth students reflect that they often feel the Oxbow students teach them more than vice versa. In this vein, student chairperson Gret Duckworth '00 calls the sessions "a time to see how other people are raised and to get a sense of what different communities are like." Many mentors find the most rewarding aspect of the program to be the opportunity to see the girls form open and trusting relationships with each other directed toward a positive goal. The student chairs of the program also get daily lessons in the complexities and challenges of coordinating a mentoring program. Over the course of the past year, they have juggled scheduling the weekly trips, training volunteers, and assembling the curricula for the 7th and 8th grade programs. In the process, they have drawn support from both college and community resources, including the Dartmouth WomenÕs Resource Center, the Women's Health Resource Center, WomenÕs Information Service in Lebanon, and DartmouthÕs Office of Student Life.
With strong support from the Bradford and the Dartmouth College community, the Dartmouth mentors look forward to a bright future at Oxbow. "If I can help make junior high just the teeniest bit easier for the girls in my group at Oxbow," says Allison Joseph '00, "that's all I need."
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