Tatu, a caring and loving student in her final year of secondary school at Smith Campus, felt compelled to help the newly enrolled students with their transition into secondary school at St Jude鈥檚. With hopes to provide the warmest welcome to these new students, Tatu wrote a Student Mentorship Program proposal and presented it to her teacher.
鈥淚nitially, a few students got together and started helping and mentoring all the new students coming into the campus. However, this year I took it upon myself to write and present this mentorship program to make it official and recognised by the school administration,鈥� Tatu explains.
The Student Mentorship Program provides an easy transition and academic support for newly enrolled Form 1 boy students at Smith Campus. Part of the program is to assist in teaching English to the new students so they can communicate and adapt to an English-medium school with ease.
鈥淚 shared and presented the proposal to both the Career Guidance and English Departments. The teachers looked at the proposal and gave me the go ahead to execute the program,鈥� Tatu says.
In the proposal, Tatu suggests that the volunteering students from Form 5 and 6 should, supervise and be responsible for several new Form 1 students.
鈥淭his year we have a total of 78 new Form 1 boy students. It鈥檚 a big group, so we鈥檝e divided them into several groups. Each volunteer supervises a group of between six and eight students.鈥�
As a leader of the program, Tatu makes sure that all volunteer students are guided and are able to manage the progress of each of the new students within their group.
鈥淚 prepare lesson plans. Once the lesson plan is approved by the Language Department, I share the plans with the rest of the students who are assisting with the mentorship. The plans are then distributed to the new students.鈥�
鈥淲e use after school hours and the weekends to teach the new students. We also give them different assignments. One of the assignments is to do presentations in front of the class. This is to help them build their confidence and we also get to assess their progress,鈥� she further explains.
Being a Form 6 student, Tatu is looking forward to doing her final exams. But, more importantly she is excited to see how all the new students will perform in six months with written and spoken English after successful completion of the mentorship program.
鈥淎s a leader of this program, I go around each group and seek students who perhaps take longer to understand and I have a one-on-one lesson with them. The aim is to make sure that, after the first three months, all these students are competent in English, confident and have settled in.鈥�
Commending Tatu for pioneering the mentorship program is Mr Mollel, Head of Languages Department, after receiving the proposal from her.
鈥淭he Form 1 students we select and enrol from government schools hardly speak English. As teachers, we have to make sure they have the command of the language within six months. That鈥檚 why, when Tatu brought us this proposal and presented the modality of the program, we accepted it,鈥� Mr Mollel proudly states.
鈥淪tudents spend most of the time with their fellow students, so it鈥檚 easy for senior students to mentor and guide the new ones,鈥� he added.
Explaining the differences between the set academic program and Tatu鈥檚 initiative, Mr Mollel says, 鈥淭he difference between our academic program and the new proposal is that this initiative has taken a social approach, whereby senior students have more time with the new students鈥� after school hours and on weekends.鈥�
The academic department supports the program by providing books, study materials and assisting in creating and approving lesson plans. Mr Mollel believes that the mentorship project will help the new students learn the language, communicate and settle in more quickly.
Daniel who joined Form 1 beginning of this year, is a mentee in the program. He鈥檚 committed to speaking English and be able to communicate with his peers with confidence.
鈥淚鈥檓 still learning the language. Tatu challenges and pushes me to do better and that makes me eager to want to learn more. I hope to be speaking English well by the end of this program.鈥�
Aside from the language lessons, the program aims to engage and teach the new students school values.
鈥淭atu has taught me to follow the values of the school鈥� Respect, Responsibility, Honesty and Kindness. Her advice is to always put my head down and study hard so I can achieve my goals,鈥� Daniel said.
St Jude鈥檚 is an English-medium school and it鈥檚 committed to making sure that students understand and can communicate effectively in the English language by the time they graduate; nurturing well-rounded future leaders of Tanzania.
***Daniel鈥檚 quotes were translated from Kiswahili to English.
You can provide the gift of education to new students, just like Daniel, and put them on a pathway to becoming one of Tanzania鈥檚 future leaders. Sponsor an academic scholarship today!
I think this demonstrates so clearly how students, Tatu in this instance are demonstrating the core values of the school. She saw a need and developed a program. Well done Tatu!!
Well done Tatu. This mentorship program sounds so worthwhile and we are thrilled to read of this achievement amongst all your many fine academic results.
Denise and Tony