“4” the students

AZLE — Academy 4, a program which mentors fourth grade students in economically disadvantaged Title I schools, will operate in Cross Timbers and Hilltop Elementaries within the Azle Independent School District starting this school year. Academy 4 focuses on mentoring students in leadership characteristics rather than academics.

Every school that is a part of the Academy 4 program is partnered with a local church which has a trained site coordinator who helps run the program throughout the year. Cross Timbers is partnered with Revive UMC and Hilltop is partnered with First Baptist Church Lakeside.

“Our church already has a close relationship with Cross Timbers Elementary,” site coordinator at Revive UMC Rev. Jenn Pick said. “Some of our members mentored children last year. Being the site coordinator for Academy 4 seemed like a natural extension of what we were already doing at Cross Timbers.”

Azle Rotary Club President Bob Buckel presented the Academy 4 program to the elementary school principals last year at one of their monthly meetings. Principals at Cross Timbers and Hilltop Shelly Wynns and Amy Rollmann, respectively, both volunteered their campuses.

“My hope is that the Academy 4 program will strengthen our campus as a whole by providing support to our students, but also teach them how they can be a mentor to others,” Rollmann said. “I am excited to bring community members into the school to work with our amazing students. I think that both the adult and the student will benefit from the time together.”

Throughout the year, Academy 4 mentors will meet with their student once a month for 90 minutes. Each month there is a focus on a different theme word, which spells the acronym, “LEADER.” Wynns said she hopes this method of mentoring will build students’ self-efficacy and confidence.

“All students need adults in their lives that care about them and are invested in knowing and supporting them while holding them accountable for their success,” Wynns said. “Leadership skills training is something that all students can benefit from.”

According to Pick, Azle ISD is the first school district outside a suburban/urban area to have the Academy 4 program. Buckel said this will show surrounding communities how eager Azle is to serve its schools.

“I think that when we do sign up and show up for these kids, we’re going to be a model for a lot of other communities as their outreach expands,” Buckel said. “We’re able to set a really high bar and we’re able to set a good example for what they’ll be doing in smaller communities.”

Site coordinator at First Baptist Church Lakeside Cynthia Brewer has worked for Academy 4 for about two months and said she is excited to see how Academy 4 can impact not just students, but mentors and the community as well.

“We have a lot of seniors and a lot of retirees, and getting to know someone in the community that is outside of their circle and spending time with a child when they don’t see children a lot gives them a sense of purpose,” Brewer said. “They will realize that they can still contribute to the community and they still have meaningful gifts to give.”

School districts who welcome the Academy 4 program school also get two other programs. Leaders 5 allows fifth grade students who were previously in Academy 4 to mentor first grade students. Full Circle Scholars gives students a chance to receive a scholarship if they were in Academy 4 as a fourth grader and volunteered for Academy 4 as a junior or senior.

“(Two high school juniors) still had the photo they took with their mentor all those years later as a high school junior,” Academy 4 Vice President of Development Terrence Butler said. “So that just shows how much (Academy 4) means to the mentors and the mentees.”

Brewer and Buckel both said they strongly encourage members of the community to sign up for Academy 4 because they could strongly influence a child’s life in a positive way that the mentor and child won’t forget.

“Our students are the future of our community and world,” Rollmann said. “With Academy 4, a 90-minute-per-month commitment has the power to impact and change a child’s life. I love that this program brings to life our district motto that, ‘It makes a difference to this one.’”