Participants Say Local Mentoring Program For Older Schoolkids Is A Big Success
By Mike Dougherty
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Some Philadelphia high school students are getting life advice from corporate mentors through a new Big Brothers-Big Sisters program called "Beyond School Walls."
The 26 students are matched with employees of Publicis Health Media, and meet twice a month.
Beyond School Walls is different from most Big Brothers-Big Sister programs because it works with highschool-aged students instead of young kids.
And CEO Marcus Allen says it's been very successful.
"The energy level from our kids, the high school kids in this program, has been amazing," he said today. "They have already shown a lot of promise."
One Big Brother, Scott Greisler, says he looks forward to his conversations with freshman Kanard Burris.
"We talk about patience," Greisler says. "We talk about setting up goals and not worrying if you hit them but just aiming for them."
Burris says it's helped him a lot.
"When we first met we weren't really letting everything out," he said today. "We were getting to know each other, telling each other about our life, what we've been through."
The mentoring relationships are expected to last until the student graduates from high school.
