Mentoring Challenges

The overarching theme of the article is identifying the challenges that black students are faced with as they finish middle school and head into high school, as well as presenting programs and/or partnerships to make the transition to high school smoother.

Methodology (or approach to understanding the issue):
According to article, students who identify as black are at a greater risk than their peers of declining academically and socially as they transition into high school. Some of the factors that have proven to be stumbling blocks to their success include the following:
• Experiencing stereotyping from teachers, school administrators and other personnel, as well as their peers.
• Not having access to positive role models in their immediate school and community settings.
• Students of black families experience cultural schisms, with a lack of understanding in communicating pertinent information from the school.
• Students coming of age to explore their
ethnicity and experiencing identity issues (Holcomb-McCoy, 2011).

There are steps that educators can take to make the transition of black students more successful. Some of the actions identified as are follows:
• Schools can promote communication and transition planning by starting to work with students and their parents by informing them of high school expectations, culture, and academic requirements before completing middle school.
• Set up mentoring programs for black students that help to address academic, social and personal issues through positive relationships. Some of the organizations that were identified as possible places to find mentors were churches, college organizations, businesses and non-profits such as 100 Black Men of America and American Promise Alliance.
• School counselors should organize, facilitate, and lead target counseling to meet specific needs for students who are at-risk for challenging transitions to high school. Tutoring, small group support meetings, and college and career counseling could help to support these students throughout their high school experience.
• Administrators should be proactive in shaping a culturally sensitive school by providing trainings on cultural competency for teachers, as well as encouraging dialogues about race and culture. Educators should also read articles and books with the purpose of increasing multicultural awareness.
• Lastly, school personnel should focus on creating partnerships with parents to build trust, equity, and hear the joys, challenges, and concerns of black parents (Holmcob-McCoy, 2011).

School counselors are a part of interconnected team of educators within the school community who are responsible for implementing a comprehensive, developmental school counseling program that meets the academic, social, and career success of all students. With this in mind, it is important for the school counselor to ensure that all students are provided the resources needed to be successful even as they transition from middle school to high school. Knowing that the transition from middle school to high school can be more difficult for black students, school counselors can collaborate with other school personnel to make sure that programming, positive relationships, support groups, partnerships, and the school culture are conducive to providing the support needed to make the transition much smoother for these students. The efforts made towards helping students in this huge transition can be a matter of graduating or dropping out for many (Holmcob-McCoy, 2011).

As an educator who has had the privilege of teaching students that range from elementary to college level, I know first hand how students’ transitions can be extremely difficult to manage successfully.
For black students who experience various challenges such as experiencing stereotyping, lack of mentoring, and cultural misunderstanding it can be even more of a challenge. School counselors have an ethical and professional responsibility to ensure that all students have equitable opportunities to succeed in academically, socially, and for future career endeavors after graduating from college. Therefore, as an aspiring counselor, I have become more aware of the specific challenges that some of my students may face and ways that I can collaborate with other school personnel to provide support for those students and their families. A part of my school counseling program must include a ways to help all students in the transition to high school, with programming specific for those at risk for a successful
transition.