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Louisa Meacham: I
am Louisa Meacham.

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I teach ninth grade English

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at Jefferson Davis Senior
High School in Houston, Texas.

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Paloma Garner: My
name is Paloma Garner.

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I am a biology and
robotics teacher

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at Davis High School
in Houston, Texas.

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Meacham: The ninth-grade
mentor program

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at Davis High School is
an effort on the part

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of the teachers and
administrators

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to create connections
between our new ninth graders

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and adults on campus.

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The goal is to make sure that
every single ninth grader

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on this campus has a connection
to an adult-an advocate

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who is looking out
for that person.

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We feel strongly that
kids who are anonymous,

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kids who are disconnected
are the kids

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that will fall through
the cracks.

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Garner: At the beginning
of every year,

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the administration
sends out a list

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of all the ninth-grade
students, and then teachers,

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all faculty are encouraged
to identify a student,

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maybe that they know or possibly
not, to establish a relationship

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with throughout the year.

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Seventy-five percent

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of our incoming first-time
freshmen are participating

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in the mentee program,
and 90 percent

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of our faculties are
serving as mentors,

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with any mentors
having one mentee to up

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to 40 mentees depending
on the teacher,

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their time allotted allowance,

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and also what grade
level they teach.

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Meacham: We choose to
focus our mentoring program

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on ninth graders because
we know that the transition

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from middle school to high
school is absolutely critical.

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Garner: There is a lot
of research to show

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that failing ninth grade is-if
not the greatest risk factor-one

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of the most significant
risk factors

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in students graduating
from high school.

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If we can get students
through the first year,

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that's a huge step, but it's
not the end of the road.

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And so the power of establishing
such a strong relationship

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in that first year is that those
kids are now, there is a cord,

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there is a connection to
someone in the school.

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So no matter what happens
through the next three years,

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it's kind of like a safety
net to be able to go back

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to that mentor and say
here's what's going on,

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here is what's up, I need this,
or can we talk about this.

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And so if we can
establish that root,

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if we can have kids build
those roots in the ninth grade,

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make it to the tenth grade,
then we know that the chances

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of them going, not
only graduating,

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but beyond are so much greater.

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Building trust is probably the
most important thing we can do

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between a mentor and a mentee,
particularly because there is

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such a sentiment of distrust
amongst students entering ninth

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grade frequently.

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There are so many different
ways to build trust,

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but the most important
way, and different mentors

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and mentees have many
variations of doing this,

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is to demonstrate
clearly that there is care

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and that there is
a genuine interest

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that this is not something we
are doing because we have to;

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this is something we want to do
because we really care about you

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as a student and, more
importantly, as a person.

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Meacham: Part of the power
of this program, I think,

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lies in it's informality-that
there isn't a set schedule.

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It hasn't become another
thing that teachers have

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to write reports on and have
endless oceans of paperwork on.

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It's human interaction, and
that, to me, is the magic

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of this and the power of it in
the way that you get 90 percent

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of the faculty to participate.

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We know the ninth-grade
mentoring program works.

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When I taught at
Davis in the mid-90s,

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we had a significant dropout
rate between the ninth-

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and tenth-grade year,
and that dropout rate has

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significantly decreased.

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And I believe that that
is in part due to programs

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like the mentoring outreach,
where students feel connected

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to an adult who is looking
out for them, nudging them,

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bugging them, praising them,
paying attention to them.

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