SACO — When Thornton Academy Junior Victoria Labbe enters Allison Desjardins’ first grade classroom at Governor John Fairfield School, the young students treat her like a rock star. 

Labbe is one of many Thornton Academy students who go to a local school twice a week to mentor. Mentors are graded on a pass or fail basis and receive academic credit. 

Labbe began her mentorship at the beginning of the school year and quickly became part of the classroom, said Desjardins. Labbe took part in the class Christmas celebration and the students made her a card for her birthday. 

“She’s a positive role model and a great student and great athlete,” said Desjardins. Desjadins said Labbe came in with her hockey jersey on and made a connection with a student who played hockey, and the boys were impressed that she was a basketball player.

Labbe is not interested in becoming a teacher, but she enjoys working with kids and has fond memories of the teenage mentor who came to her classroom when she was a young student. Her strengths are in math and science and she enjoys helping young students appreciate the importance of learning math. 

“It’s so awesome to be able to see the progress these students have made and the math skills they will carry on rest of their life,” said Labbe.

Desjardins said that even though Labbe doesn’t plan on pursuing a career in education, she’s learning valuable social and life skills in the role as a mentor. And her students love having a mentor, she said. 

“The kids adore her, they always want her to help them,” said Desjardins. “When Victoria is here, I’m invisible.”

Desjardins said having Labbe in the classroom is especially helpful when doing a group lesson, as she can give individualized help to those who need it.

During a recent group lesson, Labbe sat on the floor among the circle of students and helped a few solve a math problem. 

Desjardins asked students what they liked about Labbe. 

“She always says hi,” said one student.

“She helps us with out math,” said another.

“She’s nice,” said a few others. 

Linda Verville, career development and community outreach associate at Thornton Academy, said the program has been in existence for about 15 years, and typically about 60 to 70 high school students participate in the program each year. 

“Students decide to enroll for various reasons,” said Verville. “Some are aspiring teachers who want to gain classroom experience, while others simply like working with kids and want to give back to the school they feel helped them.”

Mentors work in a number of schools in the area. As students from Thornton Academy come from not only Saco but other communities, mentors have made impacts in schools that include Mildred L. Day School in Arundel, St. James School in  Biddeford and Dayton Consolidated School, said Verville.
 
Students from Thornton Academy also work with young students through the Teen Trendsetters, program a reading mentorship program with the Barbara Bush Foundation. 

Elementary school students in the program come to school early one day a week and are grouped with a Thornton Academy student for about half an hour. Young students in the program also receive 12 free books a year. 

Young School teacher Nicola Braley said the program helps children learn to enjoy reading and books, and the younger students get help from a teenager they can relate to. 

On a recent Tuesday morning Thornton Academy Senior Dawson Buchanan was reading one of The Magic School Bus series books with second graders Wesley Scamman and Johnathan Lawler. Buchanan was very engaging, and the young boys listened attentively and read along with him.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Buchanan, who is himself an avid reader. He said he wanted to do something to help the community, and the Teen Trendsetters program fit easily into his schedule. The Teen Trendsetters program starts at 7:20 a.m. on Tuesdays, and is over in plenty of time for him to start school at 8:30 a.m.

“There’s no excuse not to do it,” said Buchanan. 

Buchanan doesn’t aspire to be a teacher, in face, he has aspirations of being an Air Force fighter pilot and studying engineering after high school. However, he said he wanted to try a new experience and work with children and said he’s learning a lot of new skills. 

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].