On April 12th, 2024 we began the pilot for the AIG Buddy Program at Wrightsboro Elementary School where we served twelve AIG identified fifth grade students. We interviewed fifty-one high school students who applied to become mentors and out of those we selected twelve students and paired them with the elementary school students based on their personalities and interests. Mentors met with their mentees once a week over four weeks for approximately an hour at a time each session during the fifth grader’s specialist time. 

We tried multiple different styles of activities and it seemed that activities that required the students to solve puzzles with logic and critical thinking were the most enjoyable for them especially if there was some form of reward involved. Additionally, they seemed to enjoy and benefit from group-based activities in which mentor-mentee pairs would team up with other pairs to complete an activity.

 After completing the pilot, one of our goals for the program is for it to be as enjoyable for the students as possible. This way they have a break from regular classroom learning, they stay excited to meet with their mentors, and they are more engaged in the activities that are completed during their meetings.

All in all, the students seem to genuinely enjoy their time with their mentors and their specialist was highly enthusiastic about us working with them.

The long-term goal for this program is to make it self-sustaining. That means that students who were mentees in elementary or middle school go to high school and become mentors themselves. This will not only make it easier to find volunteers but will also improve the quality of the program as a whole. 

Additionally, if this program does well in New Hanover County, it could expand to other schools in other counties across the state. We believe there is a need for this program to be in every school in the country because it provides extra support for gifted students for free and it allows highly motivated students to give back to their communities in a meaningful way. 

       Finally, this program will supplement AIG specialists in New Hanover County in the midst of continuing budget cuts locally as well as specialists in other counties where it is implemented. In essence, the Buddy program will provide additional resources and support to AIG students without an additional monetary cost to the school system.