On September 23rd, the Freshman Mentors here at Verrado had the privilege of attending the annual FMP Summit! Excused from their classes for the day and adorned in black and gold, the mentors hopped on a bus and made their way to the event at Desert Springs Community Church.
As the mentors entered the church, they found their seats and engaged in a welcome by the event runners. Then, our very own Viper mentors kicked off the ice breaker activity, in which a massive rock-paper-scissors was enjoyed. Ultimately, Desert Edge won, but the Vipers put up a good fight!
Next, the mentors were treated to a speech by Tamee Gressett, who went over the different skills that freshmen are yet to learn in their high school careers. She then highlighted the role mentors play in building these skills.
After the amazing presentation given by Gressett, the mentors were dismissed into their first rotations, which were run by different schools in the district. The first rotation was a game of four corners run by Agua Fria, which allowed mentors to learn a valuable game that can be used to engage freshmen.
The Vipers then made their way to their next rotation run by Canyon View, where students from different schools were put into groups, and had to write on posters about the qualities they believed were important for a successful high school career. This allowed students to realize what to focus on when presenting to freshmen, and how to enrich their learning.
Afterwards, the mentors attended their third and final rotation run by Millenium, where mentors went over the strengths and weaknesses of their first presentations. This allowed mentors to celebrate what they did right, and learn what to improve on in the future.
The mentors then engaged in a closing activity orchestrated by Desert Edge, in which the different schools engaged in a chant competition. Agua Fria ended up winning, but the Vipers are determined to succeed at the next summit!
Gabby Mowry, a senior here at Verrado, enjoyed her first summit, and learned a lot about her role as a leader.
“I learned how to be more talkative, and more comfortable around others,” stated Mowry.
Jazlene Ferreira, also a senior here at Verrado, also learned more about being a mentor. She said, “I picked up that it’s important to learn about who I am speaking to, in order for me to understand what my goal is.”
The different presentations and activities also taught the mentors different techniques to implement into their lessons, to really engage students. Mowry states, “I’m going to be talkative, and encourage them to be more comfortable with me.”
Ferreira also has plans to strengthen her presentations, stating, “I’m going to implement more interaction activities, and ice breakers.”
After a long day of learning what it is to be a role model on campus for the lower classmen, the mentors enjoyed lunch, completed an exit survey, and made their way back to campus. It was certainly a busy but exhilarating day, and the mentors learned a lot about the importance of their positions!
