Peer-to-Peer program supports social, academic skills
To some, school is a place chock-full of friends and activities– clubs, sports events, and classes– but to others, school can be a social or academic stressor.
A new program at Southwest High School offers some of those struggling people an opportunity to experience the fun and ease that high school can be through group sessions, skill-building activities, and a space to talk about their issues or grievances.
The Peer-to-Peer program was launched by Gabriela Hernandez, Southwest High School’s Mental Health Specialist, during the fall semester of 2023 to reach out to more students and support them.
“Right now I am only able to serve 6 percent of the population of the school, which is a very specific number, but I did the math,” Hernandez said. “And that’s a little bit when you think of it. It’s around 180 students that I can see in the year. I felt like there were so many things that I could do in the whole school to be more accessible to all students, and this was a very good way to reach more students with the help of my peer leaders.”
There are two prominent roles within the Peer-to-Peer program: the student leaders and the students enrolled. Student leaders undergo extensive training to ensure they are knowledgeable in helping those enrolled. One such peer-leader student is Andre Suari, a junior.
“Our organizer Miss Hernandez helped us out a lot,” Suari said. “We had at least six weeks to seven weeks of preparation where we learned how to address and approach some of the challenges that students might be facing such as stress, academics, and anxiety.”
With this experience, peer leaders host group sessions with those enrolled in the program every other Thursday. These sessions touch on topics that depend on the individual needs of the people within the group. For example, Suari said that he tends to host group sessions that focus on managing stress that stems from school.
“One of the things I myself try to show to the students in the program is to not be hard on themselves, as I feel that most of them are stressed out,” Suari said. “I feel like most of the time they just need to take a breath, be consistent, and responsible because, at the end of the day, life can hit people with hard things and sometimes you need to take things step by step.”
Suari is also a part of Link Crew, one of the two school groups that were asked to participate as peer leaders due to their familiarity with helping incoming first-year students adjust to a new environment. The other group selected is Advancement Via Individual Determination, which Andrea Beltran, a junior, is a part of. Beltran said she uses her experience in AVID to help students better themselves academically.
“Most of the people there are because of their grades,” Beltran said. “My responsibility as an AVID member for Peer-to-Peer is to make sure they have a plan and know their resources. For example, using your planner.”
Some peer leaders have also noticed a change in how their group members feel about the program and themselves. For example, Calypso Roncal-Bonfils, a senior, said that her group members seemed to have become more comfortable and social now that they have joined.
“At first it was pretty awkward,” Roncal-Bonfils said. “Now it’s better and communicative. We’ve talked about their grades and what’s going on in their lives. I’ve given them some help in how to get more responsible, and also last semester, when a kid was failing, I helped them get Edgenuity.”
Edgenuity is an online program that allows students who had previously failed a class to make up credits and get back on track for graduating.
Currently, Peer-to-Peer is predominantly comprised of sophomore students. Gabriella Hernandez said that to tackle the academic and social struggle issues, it is best to prevent them by supporting students before they worsen or develop further into things like failing multiple classes or not graduating, and it is with programs like these that Hernandez said she believes may be better suited to see students succeed.