Develop leaders and make students' transition from elementary to middle school smoother.

School Families is a peer-mentoring program that helps incoming students develop feelings of belonging, importance, and security in their new school environment. The program begins by training older students in leadership skills. These leadership skills, which will be valuable throughout life, are practiced when the older students are each assigned four to eight incoming younger students to be in their “families.” During the 14 “family” meeting sessions students explore honesty, peer abuse, getting along with teachers, and other pertinent topics. Each peer leader receives complete instructions for facilitating his/her “family” group and each session contains information, discussion, and a relevant game. This all-inclusive guide includes complete instructions for setting up the program, leadership training, and establishing “family” groups. When schools develop leaders, our society profits. When younger students and older students form relationships, the school functions in a more peaceful manner.

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TOPIC: Peer mentoring, leadership training, violence prevention

INCLUDES: Detailed instructions for implementation, leadership training course, peer mentoring sessions, reproducible activities and charts

GRADE LEVELS: 6-9 AGES: 11-14

FOR USE WITH: Peer Mentoring

AUTHOR: Susan Mayes

RECOMMENDED FOR: Middle-school counselors, principals

104 pages, black and white illustrations