A.R. Lewis Elementary Mentors Recognized

A special luncheon was held at A.R. Lewis Elementary School Tuesday afternoon, to thank mentors for their work with students.

The Reserve at Lake Keowee Community Foundation was recently recognized for it's mentorship program at A.R. Lewis.

Last month, the SC Department of Education awarded the Foundations its Volunteer of the Year Award, in the Civic Organization category.

Mentors, Foundation officials, community leaders and school district staff gathered at the school to celebrate the award.

“We're very proud of The Reserve for the honor that they received,” said Dr. Tom Polidor, A.R. Lewis Elementary principal. “We also appreciate the recognition that it's brought to A.R. Lewis and the school district of Pickens County.”

Reserve members volunteer as mentors for at-risk youths in the school, and after just one year, 82% of program participants met or exceeded their reading or math goals.

“I want to thank the The Reserve for all the work that you do for A.R. Lewis,” Superintendent Dr. Kelly Pew said. “When we received word that The Reserve was going to be recognized for their support of A.R. Lewis, we were thrilled. Truly, what an honor, that of all of the school districts, all of the schools in the state of South Carolina, there was one recipient of this award, and that was The Reserve of Lake Keowee. We appreciate the work that you do that supports the children in this school. It clearly makes a difference when there are people there to support them in the building. I know that our teachers and our administrators do that, but to have some extra folks to come and just show how much they care about our kids and our and public education (is wonderful.)”

“Our mentors, our community as a whole gives a lot back to the community,” said Kathryn Gravely, executive director of The Reserve at Lake Keowee Community Foundation. “They mentor here at A.R. Lewis, they mentor at Helping Hands, they help with Meals on Wheels – they're just involved in the community.”

Efforts are underway to recruit more members.

“I hope we can get about 10 more, 15 more, 20 mentors in the schools,” Gravely said.

Rep. Davey Hiott has a loftier goal for the mentorship program, which he mentioned in his remarks to the group.

“I'd like to see a group of mentors at every school,” Hiott said. “Our children need this. Some many young people today don't have a mentor, a father or a mother that they can go to and say, 'Hey, can you help me with something?'”

Hiott's wife is a schoolteacher and she had a request for the group after seeing information about them, Hiott said.

“She said, 'I wonder if they have time to come to Pickens High School?'” Hiott said. “'I'd love to have these people at Pickens High School.'”

“Time after time, my wife says, 'So and so came to school today, they didn't know where they were going to spend the night at, they didn't know where they were going to get a meal until they got to back to school, they certainly didn't know how to do their homework.'”

“You folks are providing that,” Hiott continued. “You're helping our young people.”

“Thank you for making Pickens County schools better,” he said. “You've chosen A.R. Lewis, but it stretches further than A.R. Lewis. It goes out into the community. It goes out to the other schools that are taking advantage of what you're offering. You're setting an example.”

Efforts are also underway to provide elementary school students with mentors as they move up in the school system.

“What makes the program work, is staying with those students right through middle school and high school,” Polidor said.

Dick Bishop and Mike Kennedy serve on the A.R. Lewis Mentoring Program Advisory Committee.

“Staying with the children for the long term is very important,” Bishop said. “It is our plan that we stay with the students as they go from A.R. Lewis to Pickens Middle.”

That said, they want to make sure there are enough mentors remaining at A.R. Lewis, hence the importance of recruiting new mentors.

“We really feel it's important to keep this program going,” Kennedy said.

Chris Bishop thanked Polidor for submitting the application for the award to the Department of Education.

“That means a lot to us,” she said.

Polidor presented the mentors with a special token of the school's appreciation.