How Bartlett High students are becoming role models to younger peers
Growing up, Rohan Shah was lucky to have a role model in his older brother to help him navigate the challenges of school.
That kind of steady guidance from a mentor is something not all students are afforded, said Shah, a Bartlett High School senior who created Elgin Area School District U-46's first student-led, STEM-focused mentoring program for younger peers.
Mentors For Tomorrow — an after-school program for elementary and middle school students — involves a group of Bartlett High School students offering homework help, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) projects and activities at Spring Trail Elementary School in Carol Stream, and Sycamore Trails Elementary School and Eastview Middle School, both in Bartlett.
Shah said he wanted to instill a love for learning in younger students and give back to the district for preparing him for college, where he hopes to pursue a career in medicine.
“I see that when people have role models, they can be so much involved in their education,” said Shah, 17, the group's president.
Shah and some of his peers in Bartlett High's Science, Engineering and Technology Academy began visiting the after-school SAFE program at Spring Trail in 2016 during their freshman year.
The program later expanded to Sycamore Trails, and to Eastview this school year. It now involves 32 Bartlett High student mentors — freshmen through seniors — who visit the schools in smaller groups for two hours weekly, engaging students in hands-on activities, providing tutoring in math and other subjects, and being positive role models.
“I hope they continue having that curiosity that I see every time I come here,” Shah said. “The same time that we are teaching them, they are teaching us.”
The program's success has spurred the group to try and replicate it at other U-46 schools.
Shah spoke to dozens of his U-46 peers at last week's U-46 Student Leadership Summit about creating similar mentoring programs at their high schools.
Future chapters could follow the same model of having mentors volunteer at the SAFE after-school program available at 30 U-46 elementary schools.
“It's going to be best if it's student-driven,” said Shah, who is working with students at Elgin and South Elgin high schools to start Mentors for Tomorrow chapters there.
Group sponsor Vito Selvaggio, who teaches math at Bartlett High, said the program already has had a “remarkable impact” on the school community with more students seeking to become mentors and increasing participation at the schools they serve.
“Only time will tell what's in store for this group in the following years,” Selvaggio said.
“These students are so impressive. I can't be more proud of the officers for the drive that they have. U-46 is really going to have something special with the program that they've started and will hopefully continue to grow. There's something really extraordinary and really special happening.”
High school students don't often get to leave behind such a legacy, said Harsh Chheda, 17, a Bartlett High senior and vice president of the mentoring group.
“When we came into high school, we didn't know what we wanted to do in the future,” Chheda said of the group's goal of helping inspire students' interest in STEM at an early age. “We wanted to be unique, rather than (being) just a tutoring program.”
As Shah, Chheda and other seniors in the group graduate in May, they will hand over the reins to students waiting to lead the program forward.
“I'm so excited,” said junior Sareena Shah, 16, who will take over as president next school year. “I have such a passion for giving back to the community and helping being a role model for these kids. We want to bring this club to all the elementary schools, which I'm really excited about getting that rolling.”