Sentinel’s student government once again partnered with Lewis and Clark Elementary. The Student Government will be mentoring the young students during the school’s lunch. As long as all the Sentinel students are caught up with their work, they will visit the school during the advisory period.

Lisa Anderson and Erika Martin both run the Student Government at Sentinel and have made this program possible. They have done the mentorship program with Lewis and Clark Elementary for roughly around six to seven years. Even though school was tough during the Corona virus pandemic, the Student Government is able to continue this partnership.

“The schedule has changed year to year with covid and their lunchtime doesn’t match with ours.” Anderson continues, “It used to be a lunchtime activity but now our kids go during advisory.” All the students that are caught up on their homework will travel to Lewis and Clark to play and hang out with the elementary kids. The Sentinel Students have the opportunity to mentor the kids however they also are bonding and creating relationships with Lewis and Clark students. Martin shares, “We just have our students go over to Lewis and Clark…and they essentially just play during recess with the kids. If they go consistently I think they develop into kinda little friendships that have been in the past, very sweet.” It’s great for the young students to have some other authority around other than the adults at the school. The students are able to build a brother and sister type relationship together just by sharing their lunch recess with each other. It is always a positive experience for the kids and builds the community. The Lewis and Clark students look up to the Sentinel students that come by. Martin believes, “I think they see them in a different way then they do adults…they admire them so much and look up to them so much that having them play with them at recess feels really cool to the little kids”. The time spent and shared between the students can lead to stronger friendships beyond just mentoring the children at Lewis and Clark Elementary. Anderson states, “A lot of these younger kids have older brothers and sisters in the system and they’ll come to [Sentinel] basketball games and football games and they love being able to look out and see their Sentinel buddy down there playing”. The children at Lewis and Clark look up to their Sentinel friend, and they both support each other in school creating good bonds between them. 

Sentinel’s Student Government has had the Lewis and Clark Elementary mentorship program for many years. The opportunity it gives both schools to make friendships and connections is beyond mentoring. It allows the students to have sibling-like relationships. The positive influence the students have on the children builds up the community and is a great program here at Sentinel High School.