Mentors

Check and Connect Program


The Check & Connect mentor program is designed to help students engage in the learning modalities and to stay on track to ultimately graduate from high school. Check & Connect is the only dropout prevention intervention program listed with the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) What Works Clearinghouse that is found to have a positive effect on students thus keeping them in school.


Check & Connect is an evidence-based mentoring intervention for 5th through 12th-grade students who show warning signs of disengagement within school and who are at risk of dropping out. At the core of Check & Connect (C&C) is a trusting relationship between the student and a caring mentor who:


  1. Builds a strong relationship with students based on

mutual trust and open communication focusing on

success at school and with learning.


  1. Systematically “Checks” on students, assessing their

engagement with school and learning through close

monitoring of their attendance, behavior, and grades.


  1. “Connects” with students, offering individualized

intervention in partnership with school personnel,

families, and community service providers.


  1. Partners with parents/families, functioning as a

liaison between home and school and striving to build

constructive family-school relationships.

STUDENT OUTCOMES

Increase in

  1. Attendance

  2. Persistence in school

  3. Credit accrual

  4. School completion rates

Decrease in

  1. Truancy

  2. Tardies

  3. Behavioral referrals

  4. Dropout rates



Meet our Mentors

Robbie Shirah

Middle School Mentor

Sharunda Bloodser

Middle School Mentor


Ashley Hawkins

High School Mentor

Rhona Ali

High School Mentor

Mentor Team

Sharunda Bloodser, Ash Hawkins, Rhona Ali, and Robbie Shiriah.