Having mentors is one of the best things about The Passion Project. Each child was paired with a member of faculty. We had the kids pick three teachers that they would like to work with and then made sure they got one of their choices. The role of the mentor is to support and to be a 'check in' for the student - another level of support and accountability for each student. It is not necessary that they share the passion of the student or that they are an expert in the passion. What is important is that they listen, support, encourage and give practical, proactive suggestions that will help the student move forward in their project.
We gave the mentors a packet of information outlining their role within The Passion Project:
We also had the students write a letter to the mentors explaining their understanding of the role of the mentor:
One of the biggest requests from mentors was that they stay informed of the schedule so that they knew the short and long term deadlines that were expected of their student. We provided our mentors, students and families with a calendar outline to guide them in their journey:
We also provided the following as an example of the type of planning each student might want to do prior to and then during their mentor meeting. This was useful to help focus the students. It was also useful for the mentors to see that their student was coming to them with a plan and with something they could later follow up with their student on. Many students took this example and went on to create their own form of planning/record keeping.
