Portrait of an AI Graduate

For this “Portrait”, we synthesize the program and mentoring progression info for each grade into 3-4 snapshot "experiences" that a student (named Katie) would have each year that represent the mix of activities and mentoring interactions that would be representative of a young person’s six-year experience in the program model. 

7th Grade:

·      Katie attends her first cohort meeting and meets Josh, the Program Manager; Emma, a 10th grade peer mentor; and 15 other 7th grade students in the cohort.  They do some group building activities to learn about each other, pick “Timberwolves” as the name for the cohort and start talking about ideas for their year-end expedition.

·      She participates in a beach day outing with the Timberwolves, Josh, Emma, and Mike, an adult mentor for the cohort.  They do a beach clean up, visit an historic lighthouse, and play some group games on the beach.  Katie and Emma talk about how they both love to swim.

·      Josh and Mike lead the Timberwolves in a discussion about setting group norms, rules, and expectations during a cohort meeting.  Katie realizes her current grades in math might not be high enough to meet the group expectations in order to go on the final expedition.  She and Josh meet with her math teacher to see what help Katie needs to improve her math grade.

·      The Timberwolves and their mentors go on a 3-day expedition to Acadia National Park.  They camp, hike, visit the Abbe Museum to learn about Wabanaki native history and culture, and go on a tour at College of the Atlantic.  Katie learns that CoA has a marine biology program that sounds interesting - students learn to scuba dive as part of their ocean field studies and collect animal and plant specimens from Frenchman's Bay to study in the lab.  Mike helps Katie learn how to pitch a tent and cook over a campfire.  The Timberwolves tell stories and teach each other camp songs around the fire.  Emma, Katie, and some other brave Timberwolves go for a swim in the cold water at Sand Beach.

8th Grade:

·      The Timberwolves and their mentors kick off the new school year with a goal of rebuilding the tight learning community they experienced in 7th grade, to prepare students for the expanded program activities.  Katie is excited about getting to learn more about her community, since she lives out at the end of a peninsula and besides taking the bus to school, she rarely gets the chance to travel off the peninsula. 

·      With an overall theme of exploring the local community and cultivating a sense of place, Josh offers students the opportunity to choose one career field that they would like to explore during the year.  Katie doesn’t know what she should choose and tells one of the other peer mentors named Megan, about her dilemma.   Megan asks Katie to think about one thing she really loves doing when she’s not playing sports or going to school and Katie mentions that she loves to ride horses.  After further discussion, Megan helps Katie choose a visit to a local veterinarian whose practice includes horses. 

·      In addition to taking part in activities throughout the year that support responsible decision making, Katie and her Timberwolves teammates learn how to advocate for themselves, in preparation for heading into high school next year.   These lessons are hard, but long overdue for Katie to learn, as she has a hard time sticking up for herself with friends and family and making the sometimes-difficult daily decisions that move her life in a forward direction. 

·      During the Timberwolves’ core expedition at the end of the year, Katie and her classmates take part in a 4-day educational expedition around their local community.  The trip includes the opportunity to go rock-climbing, learn about the lobster industry, meet with year-round residents on Monhegan Island, visit the local Mid-Coast School of Technology (MCST), and participate in a cultural exchange with youth from the Passamaquoddy tribe. During this trip, Katie learns for the first time about her interest in audio engineering – a topic the group explores during their time at MCST.  Josh notices Katie’s curiosity in the topic and files it away for later.  

9th Grade:

·      As a way to help all the students in the Timberwolves cohort begin high school with a little less anxiety, Josh does two very intentional things at the start of the year – first he partners each of the students in the cohort with an older high-school mentor who checks in with the students everyday to make sure they’re finding their way.  Second, Josh makes it a point to be in the school every day for the first two weeks of their high school experience to make sure that his students are seeing a positive and friendly face.  Katie seems to super relieved to have all of this extra support.

·      By Thanksgiving, it’s clear that Katie is struggling socially, more than she expected, and although Josh wasn’t aware of it, peer mentor Megan lets him know that Katie seems “off.”  When Josh checks in with the guidance team at school, they, too, don’t know anything – since she hasn’t been on their radar.  However, after Josh checks in with Katie’s soccer coach, he finds out that she hasn’t been able to play due to an injury that has in turn, led her to feel irrelevant around her teammates and lose confidence in herself.  Josh checks in with her parents and finds out that they know about the injury to her leg but haven’t done anything about it because they weren’t sure who to take her to see.  Josh contacts a local physical therapist in his network and gets Katie an appointment.  This small intervention seems to work – Katie’s leg starts to heal, and it gives her renewed optimism for the rest of the year. 

·      Over the winter, the Timberwolves get the chance to go ice fishing and winter camping with Mike and Emma.  Katie thinks she will hate it, but it turns out that even though she doesn’t love the cold, she loves being surrounded by such positive people and learning new skills.  After getting to know a few more caring adult mentors who joined the cohort this year, she is starting to truly understand the importance the program and its impact on her life.    

·      In the spring, the core expedition involves their first trip out of state.  Katie and the Timberwolves go to Boston where they take a walk through history on the Freedom Trail, visit museums on modern and contemporary art, tour Boston College and learn about “Old Ironsides” – the oldest ship still afloat in the US Navy.  It is Katie’s first time out of Maine, and she is amazed at how comfortable and energized she feels walking around the city.  Josh, Mike, and the other adult mentors discuss that Katie seems like she was born to live in a city. 

10th Grade:

·      Josh begins to meet with the students early in the new school year with a clear focus on goal setting.  Each student identifies 3 SMART goals around their personal life, their social life, and their future post-secondary plans.

·      Katie’s goals for her personal life include getting more involved with the LBGTQ+ community and volunteering her time to become an ally to others in the school who openly express being a part of this community.  

·      Katie also takes part in Josh’s “life hack” online Zoom sessions that he offers with the other adult mentors, where they focus on practical topics such as financial literacy, opening a bank account, how to land a job shadow, how to apply to driver’s ed., and more.  A new mentor named Jack encourages Katie to pursue a job shadow of someone who does audio engineering for a living.  She agrees and Jack facilitates the process by connecting Katie to an acquaintance who has a recording studio in Portland. 

·      For their core expedition, the Timberwolves cohort embark on their first trip out of the country – to Canada.  During this 5-day trip, they visit to Quebec – where they hike in Saguenay Fjord National Park, meet with elders from the Naskapi tribe, study whale migration and explore the unique architecture of old Quebec.  

11th Grade:

·      Josh continues his online “life hack” sessions – but this time with a clear focus on college preparation.  Topics include how to land an internship, how to apply to college, how to study for SATs, how to save for college, and more. 

·      Katie decides not to play sports in high school anymore during her junior year.  She has so much going on and feels like she has outgrown her passion for sports.  Instead, her passions seemed more focused around serving others.  So, instead of sports, Katie decides to volunteer her time at OUT Maine, as well as sign up for a leadership program organized by Josh and become a peer mentor.  Katie is excited to find the courage to lead, build her muscle around self-efficacy, discover the strength to set personal boundaries in relationships, and most importantly, become a peer mentor to younger students in the program, as Emma and Megan were for her.

·      The core expedition this year is a 7-day college/career expedition.  Josh explains that each student will get the chance to pick one college or career field that they would like to explore within the New England region.  Katie is interested in going to a college that has an audio engineer major, and wants to be in a big city, so she picks Bentley College in Boston.

12th Grade:

·       Josh, Mike, Jack, and the adult mentors that have been supporting the Timberwolves cohort over the past 5 years are excited to assist the students as they start senior year – a year that will be full of transitions and celebrations.  Their collective task this year is to help empower each student to formalize their post-secondary plans – plans that include pursuing a post-secondary education, career training opportunity, and/or a specialized credential. 

·       Katie is excited about her senior year because she fell in love with the college of her dreams down in Boston during her junior year.  However, she is nervous that her parents won’t see the value of a college education, especially if it means Katie going out of state.  She shares her fears with Josh, and they talk through various strategies to help address her hopes and dreams with her parents.    

·       Josh has gotten to know Katie’s parents over the 5+ years and feels very comfortable around them.  Josh’s bond with the family deepened after the family car broke down during Katie’s sophomore year, and Josh and another adult mentor named Sue were able to help find them the money they needed to get the car fixed so that Katie’s father wouldn’t miss a day of work.  Josh hopes that the relationship building he has done with the family during the early years will pay off now as he advocates for Katie’s college dream and reiterates that the caring support system that the program provides in high school will continue to be a part of Katie’s support system in college.   

·       Katie’s final expedition is one she has feared ever since she heard about it in 7th grade – a rites of passage solo wilderness experience in the Maine woods that would mark the end of adolescence and the beginning of adulthood.  Katie hates being alone and is fearful of the dark – not a great recipe for being out for two nights by herself in the backwoods of Maine, she thinks.  Even though Katie has a very tough time finishing the solo, it turns out to be one of the greatest experiences of her life - giving her the confidence she needs in herself to navigate the next steps in her life beyond high school.  She leaves her final experience in the program grateful for all that she has learned, but also feeling sad that the close bonds she made with Josh, Sue, Mike, Jack, Megan, Emma and other mentors, as well as her fellow Timberwolves will all be evolving as the program comes to and end.

·       In early June, Katie graduates from high school.  Josh and the other mentors are there near the front row to cheer as her name is called by the principal.  Afterwards, they are invited over to Katie’s grandparents’ house for her graduation party.  They all pitch in and get Katie a gift card to Target to help outfit her college dorm room in the fall. 

·       Near the end of the summer, Josh and the mentors check in on Katie to make sure she has everything she needs for her college departure.  Josh tells her that he will check in on her within the first two weeks of her college experience.  

·       In mid-August, Katie leaves for school.  A few days later she checks her college mailbox and finds 3 separate cards from her mentors all reassuring her that she has what it takes to manage the transition away from home and to succeed in college.  After experiencing some mild homesickness earlier over the first couple of days, it is exactly what Katie needs to hear as she starts her college journey.