Mark Twain Elementary School -

This school year, 8 Mark Twain classrooms have served as a host to 13 Kermit's Cove high school helpers. The high school helpers are at Mark Twain from 8-9:45 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday where they can be found running small groups, working with individual students, facilitating whole group activities and helping throughout the classroom. In some classes, the teacher has a portion of their plan time while the high school helper is present. Teachers have been utilizing their plan time to mentor the CHS students and help deepen their knowledge in regard to best teaching practices, lesson planning, developing relationships with families, among many other things.  On Tuesdays/Thursdays, while the CHS students are "off-site", they are expected to help the teacher with things that will assist in the classroom such as prepping materials for activities. The program has evolved over the course of the first quarter (with CHS students oftentimes requesting more time at Mark Twain) and both Mark Twain and CHS students have benefited from this partnership. The high school helpers have been able to exhibit leadership skills, and many have discovered a passion that hadn't yet been uncovered until this opportunity. The Mark Twain students have developed strong relationships with their high school helpers and look forward to their presence each week.