New English teacher Dennis Danziger created a mentoring program for freshmen this year.

“I noticed I had a lot of incoming freshman students who seemed lost about everything, not only school,” said Mr.Danziger.

Before starting the program, he also found while reading personal essays that many seniors had dealt with similar problems in their past and would be able to offer younger students advice that administrators can’t. Mr. Danziger partnered the students up the first day they met at his room during lunch. He tried to partner up students who shared common interests and put students of the same gender together.

Mentors and mentees ideally meet one hour per week. They are allowed to communicate through text messaging, telephone chatting outside of school as well as at school during nutrition or lunch. Mentors can get a maximum of 10 hours of community service, but mentees do not get any.

Students signed up with Mr.Danzinger, but he soon found that many more freshmen than seniors had signed up for the program. Therefore, there were not enough mentors. Then, he made the program open to students from Ms. Mary Ruth Greene’s senior English class.

Senior Fernando Lopez and his mentee, Frankie, both Danziger’s students, started meeting during lunch occasionally and now hang out at the same spot during nutrition and lunch. When asked why he signed up for the program, Lopez said “I did it for credit. I was doing well in Mr. Danziger’s class, but Frankie wasn’t, so I was really able to help him.”

It is too late to sign up for the program this year but anyone who is interested should be attentive to announcements or contact Mr. Danziger next year in room 120.