What Mentorship Means
Since our inception (happy #10YearsofACE), parents joined the ACE Movement as after-school coaches, collaborating with teachers, social workers, and school administrators to serve up tennis programs for students. When we expanded our model to include academic enrichment and social-emotional learning, ACE needed more certified professionals on our team. This created a major chance for parents to take on new roles within school communities, but we needed a partner with a structured professional development program.
In 2018, ACE learned about an opportunity that would forever change our organization. The Parent Engagement Insitute, made up of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association and Southwest Organizing Project, won an increase in the Illinois budget to grow support for the Parent Mentor Program (PMP) to $2.5M during the 2018-19 school year. And they were looking for new partners!
Though new to ACE, the PMP successfully operated in Chicago since 1995. Like our program, it launched in collaboration with schools, focusing on engaging community members, specifically parents, as program leaders. Now, the model benefits 30 Illinois community organizations, 160 schools nationwide, 1,120 parent mentors, and 24,000 students.
For the 2018-2019 school year, ACE received funding to launch the PMP at Washington and Lincoln Elementary Schools in District #148. Thanks to the dedication of our growing team of parents, we successfully implemented the program in Year 1. This led to Denise Sanders, founding ACE Coach and Parent Mentor Coordinator, being asked to testify to the effectiveness of the PMP in front of the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee of the Illinois General Assembly in March 2020, right before COVID shutdowns. Her voice represented over 960 parents through the statewide program and helped secure an additional $4.5M the following school year. This allowed the Parent Engagement Institute to again expand the PMP model to new schools, including ACE’s launch at Park Elementary, as the pandemic reshaped classroom learning.
The PMP fills service gaps by recruiting district-based parents to tutor alongside teachers in classrooms for 200 hours per school year. Parent Mentors help students navigate academics, life skills, and conflict resolution. Youth receive more personalized attention, improving focus and critical thinking. Plus, deep relationships are formed between teachers and caregivers that advance the culture of schools as a space for family engagement. These relationships were especially important through remote learning, when Parent Mentors supported the digital classroom. Now, they are back to school to help students excel in-person.
“The best parts of my day are when I walk through the school and see Parent Mentors in the hallway working one-on-one or in small groups with students,” says Melanie Stamps, recently retired School District #148 social worker and ACE’s Parent Mentor Organizer. “Or, if I see them walking down the hall and the kids run up to them and hug them and start asking them a million questions. I totally love that.”
Alongside the benefits for students and schools, parents learn about the education system and strengthen skills needed to support children through classroom lessons. Weekly, Parent Mentors attend professional development on academic instruction, community engagement, and leadership. Then, as a group, they meet to discuss their experiences in the classroom and with the workshops. As a result, parents are becoming stronger community resources.
“During our weekly check-ins, we have a rich discussion on various topics. It is totally soul stirring,” says Ms. Stamps, who was named Illinois School Social Worker of the Year in 2022. “Last year, we learned that a Black woman, couturier Ann Lowe, created Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress. On the wedding day, they refused to let her in the front door. When she talked about ‘taking the dress back,’ well…you know the rest. This year, a Parent Mentor told us how one of her students moved up several points in his reading level, and they cried together when they found it out. Times like this are truly priceless.”
Last December, the Parent Engagement Institute and our new friends from Illinois State Board of Education joined us at Park Elementary for a site visit. The ACE Team shared stories about their experiences inside and beyond the classroom, prompting a big picture conversation on how to grow educational equity together. Looking ahead, ACE plans to bring the PMP model to Baltimore during the 2023-24 school year, extending the benefits of this proven program in our sister city. With our Chicago Team, we will continue developing new leaders year after year.
Are you a parent/guardian who lives in District #148 and is looking for new opportunities to engage? Contact us today—we want to learn more about you! You can also support the PMP by making a donation. Let’s go, Parent Mentors!