Falcon Friends program helps BASD students adjust to middle school
Transitioning from elementary school to junior high can be a challenge for some students.
Members of Brownsville Area School District’s Students in Action hope the Falcon Friends program will help ease some of the difficulties.
“(Sixth-grade students) come from a protective environment with one class, one teacher all the time,” said Brownsville Area High School teacher David Beregi, a co-sponsor of the district’s SIA program. “The whole support system they’ve known since kindergarten is totally upended.”
Falcon Friends assigns high school mentors to new sixth graders who may need a helping hand as they adjust to their time at Brownsville Area Middle School.
The program started after an SIA member mentioned their own difficulty in making the transition.
“They said they wished they had someone to talk to,” said SIA member Anna Clister, a senior at the high school.
Now in its third year, Falcon Friends has grown from 14 volunteer mentors to 25. The number of mentees varies year to year, with participation voluntary. Though, SIA members noted, the number of middle school students who reach out to join the program typically increases as the year progresses.
“Sixth graders are looking for a place to belong, a platform to be seen and heard,” said Roxie Furlong, a teacher at the middle school and SIA co-sponsor.
Superintendent Dr. Keith Hartbauer said the district has put an increased emphasis on students’ mental well-being, particularly after the pandemic. He said the district has increased its number of behavioral therapists and mental health counselors, and officials are in the process of implementing a program where students who act out will speak to a behavioral therapist to get to the root of the issue rather than face a punishment like in-school suspension.
Falcon Friends has grown into another tool to help students who may be struggling, he said.
“What SIA has done is take it to another level,” Hartbauer said.
Falcon Friends mentors and mentees meet every Friday at lunch, where they eat together and then take part in different activities. Annually, they’ve held a balloon release. Both mentors and mentees write something on a piece of paper that they want to let go of, attach that paper to the balloon, and allow the balloon (and their worry) to fly away. It’s a symbolic way to release a stressor, SIA members said.
Falcon Friends also includes a “Walk in My Shoes” program. Using an image of a shoe, group members write what they want others to know and understand about them, including what experiences have shaped their lives, Furlong said.
To develop activities, Furlong said, SIA reached out to Chestnut Ridge Counseling Services to determine what would be most helpful to ease the transition from elementary to middle school. Furlong said Falcon Friends isn’t meant as substitute for professional therapy or counseling, but noted the program also has a crisis line and can help connect students in need with mental health resources.
SIA also has a weekend food program, Snack Packs, for high school and middle school students. As part of it, about 50 students pick up bags of meals and snacks to take home for the weekend. Furlong said they were able to purchase the items through fundraising, as well as with the help of the Fayette County Community Action Agency Food Bank, which provided a $5,000 grant this school year.
For the past two years, the district has paid for Brownsville’s SIA students to attend the National Youth Conference, where they meet up with members of other SIA programs. Group members give a yearly presentation about the programs they’ve implemented.
While the group hasn’t won at nationals, members and sponsors said it’s not about that.
“We do this for the kids,” Furlong said. “The impact that you guys have made is far above any award or certificate or banner.”