This is a high school transition program aimed at students in the ninth grade. The goal is to increase high school graduation rates and improve academic performance and social and emotional skills among students.
The program consists of assigning high school seniors as mentors for at-risk students. The student mentors receive daily training in leadership skills for a period of one year and must act as exemplary role models.
The intervention consists of structured meetings between mentor pairs and groups of 12 ninth-graders, where they work on school adherence, motivation to achieve goals, social skills, social acceptance, and emotional self-regulation and decision-making skills.
Meetings are also held with the families of all the students involved in the program at events that take place once a year to strengthen the communication between family and school. In the year following the end of the intervention, three booster sessions are held to review the lessons learned.