More than Mentoring, This Springfield Youth Program Turns Students Into Leaders
Springfield, MA — Every student is one caring adult away from being a success story. That philosophy is something that Vilenti Tulloch believes sums up his organization, Academic Leadership Association, LLC. The organization partners with Western Massachusetts schools to identify areas where students are struggling and provide interventions around those behaviors.
“This is far more than a mentoring program, it’s a holistic approach to school engagement and student engagement. It’s tiered interventions. It’s advocacy,” Tulloch said. “It’s really an intensive service.”
Tulloch’s previous careers in social work and teaching led him to wonder how to bridge the gap between home and school for students. He was working in an elementary school where students averaged nine office referrals per day, so he asked the principal for the students with the highest number of referrals.
Those students met after school, checked in midday and before school. Tulloch called the group the Young Gentleman’s Club and held discussions about their day and what challenges they were facing.
“It created relationships for those students where they felt safe and supported in the school building,” Tulloch said. “Once you get those students on board it trickles down to the other students because there aren’t as many disruptions in the classroom.”
The philosophy of building trust and creating a safe environment worked. The number of office referrals decreased and the positive recognition for the students increased.
““The ultimate goal is to create a paradigm shift with students who are struggling and turn them into leaders while addressing all their needs.”
Seeing the benefit it provided, Tulloch created the Academic Leadership Association to include females and expand to other schools. The program offers courses on financial literacy and community engagement, utilizing community mentors to work directly with the students.
One mentor, Jason Feliciano, leads the financial literacy academy course to educate youth in the financial world. This includes crypto currency, credit, stocks and what it takes to be financially stable.
“They’re so focused on money but not what comes with it or what they can do with it,” Feliciano said. “They wanted to start their own business, or they had ideas, but they didn’t understand the concept of what comes with a business.”
Covid presented a challenge for students, preventing them from socializing with the teacher and classmates. Last year the program was also challenged in being able to mentor the students through a screen. Feliciano is looking forward to having in-person contact this year to make a difference in the lives of these students.
“It goes farther than just giving back to my community,” Feliciano said.
“We’re building a bridge between the school and the parent and the child,” he added. “We’re doing a lot more than just mentoring. We also deal with social and mental aspects.”
He’s always looking for mentors and community leaders who can help to guide students involved in the program. Stand Out Truck owner Mychal Connolly was one such local leader who shared his story with students. As a business owner he spoke to them about financial literacy and entrepreneurship.
Tulloch hopes to utilize the truck soon to increase awareness of the program and find additional mentors. Many come from partner Americorps and many want to help others the way they were helped. Tulloch was inspired by his brother who acted as his mentor, leading by example.
“A lot of people don’t realize it, but we all had somebody who pulled us aside and held us accountable,” Tulloch said. “Even as an adult we have mentors, so why not provide it to them at an earlier age? Why not be able to have that opportunity for students?”
Learn more at: https://www.academicleadershipassociation.com/
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