The “Summery”
The work of educators does not end once the final bell before summer rings. Principals, deans, teachers, and support staff utilize their summers to train themselves and prepare their buildings for the next school year. Some teachers are busy facilitating summer school to ensure our scholars can remain on track to graduate. While teachers prepare themselves and their students, Lion’s Pride Mentoring does the same. The summer was jam-packed with impactful work, from recruitment to fundraising and networking to student-centered programming.
Bud Billiken
Amidst the hectic schedule of summer school, off-season renovations, and professional development meetings, the community comes together to participate in the annual Bud Billiken parade. Lion’s Pride was honored to have a booth and build community in concert with some of our school partners. Our booth offered trivia and snacks to those who stopped by. We hope to meet many young festival goers as they enter high school.
Freshman Connection
The summer before starting high school can be nerve-wracking for students, but we seek to ease the transition by providing support through peer mentorship. Freshman connection takes place every summer, and we attend first-year orientation for our school partners and get to know the incoming first-year class and their parents. During Freshman Connection, students are introduced to social-emotional learning lessons that can support them in their transition. Freshman orientation allows our staff to make organic connections with the student body at our school partners.
Bigs Training
As we acclimate the freshman classes to the idea of peer mentoring, Lion’s Pride also utilizes the summer to begin Big’s Training workshops with incoming juniors and seniors. During Big’s Training, students gain an understanding of communication skills and the methodology behind peer mentoring and create a vision plan for their school year as mentors.
Trivia Night
The summer is complete with our annual Trivia Night Fundraiser. The Lion’s Pride staff and a team of volunteers bring a night of fun and games to our potential and current donors. Sponsors of the event donated raffle items like signed baseballs and tickets to assorted adventures around the Chicagoland area. Each year, we prioritize utilizing funds for programming by partnering with local businesses to minimize the cost of fundraising.
While this is only a small part of the greater picture of work that we accomplished as an organization this summer, we implore you to consider summer programs in your community as the school year comes to a close. To learn more about our summer at Lion’s Pride, visit our Instagram.
If you are interested in being placed on our volunteer list, please fill out our community volunteer application.
