In order to foster positive qualities in junior high boys, science teacher Terry Richards has established the Brother to Brother program on campus.

This program, analogous to Sister2Sister, will pair a 7th or 8th grade boy with a junior or senior mentor.

Last week upperclassmen received a brochure on Brother to Brother in their English classes. The group met on Aug. 20, but Richards says he is still looking for high school guys to join the program.

“My goal is for every junior high boy to have a junior or senior guy mentoring them,” Richards said. “I don’t want one guy to have two guys. I want to have the older guys help the younger guys through their problems.”

High school boys interested in participating must meet the following requirements: be a junior or senior, have a reference, get parental permission, have an interview and profess a Christian viewpoint and commitment to the program.

Applications are available from Richards and are due by Thursday, Aug. 26.

The older brothers will meet with Richards during lunch once a month, where they will review and train. Then they will meet twice with the younger brothers once for discussion and once for an off-campus lunch privilege.

The off-campus lunch comes with restrictions, such as: Brothers must have parental permission, return to class on time, walk to their destination, pay for their own lunches and sign out and in at the office.

Junior Trevor York, who will be a counselor at Calvin Crest this year, decided to participate in the program in order to help junior high boys to learn from his mistakes.

“In my junior high years, I did some dumb stuff,” York said. “I want them [junior high boys] to learn from my mistakes. I think it’s cool that they will get to see me as a role model. I’m hoping to be friends so that when they get into high school, it’ll make it less scary.”

York wishes that he had the opportunity to have a big brother, and he regrets that the program was not open during his junior high years, he said.

“Even though there are teachers, it’s always easier to have someone your age talk to you about different problems,” York said. “My counselor at Calvin Crest was really cool, so I would have wanted someone like him as my brother.”

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