Peer Mentoring Written by Henry McNair

You are just starting 6th grade; you feel nervous and sweaty, and your mind is
racing at the prospect of starting a new school. You have just passed the spring
office, and you see on the club calendar, a club that promises to “ease the transition
of the incoming 6th graders.” Your eyes glimmer in hope of this new opportunity.
A club that makes you face your new challenges with 6th grade, with kids who
have been there before. That club’s name Is the Peer Mentoring Club.
I have recently just met with the advisor of the club, Ms. Minehan (who is also an
8th-grade general music teacher), and talked to her about her life so far, and here is what she told me about herself. She was born in Sayre Pennsylvania, which is 30
miles southwest of Binghamton. Also, I learned that she aspired to be a music
teacher from an early age. She eventually got her undergraduate degree at SUNY Fredonia and her master's degree at the University of Buffalo.
She told me that she (Ms. Minehan), Mrs. D’Angelo, and Ms. Britt (no longer
working at Maple) created the club 5 years ago, it was to help kids face the new
challenges of 6th grade. The club meets twice a month, and they have the 6-8
grades do group activities to form peer relationships. It is a social club, that you do
not have to sign up for, you just go every Wednesday. So, if you are a kid who

wants to build new relationships, make new friends, and is nervous about school,
you should join the Peer Mentoring Club, it can give you a little boost to succeed
in middle school.