Panther Mentors

The Panther Mentors program provides a structure that guides freshmen and new students to Spring Lake Park High School toward both academic and social success.

Panther Mentors help create a safe and supportive school environment where freshmen/new students learn that people at school care about them and their future. Panther Mentors remove the culture and fear of negativity, such as hazing and bullying and replaces it with structural support and purposeful long lasting connections that make a measurable difference in their success and at our school.  Panther Mentors program is not just a one-time event; it is a year-long transition program.

The transition to high school can be a major event in the life of a young person and yet very few strategies for support exist in most high schools. Numerous studies show that the move to high school is marked by a period of emotional stress and discomfort for adolescents, often times resulting in a decrease in academic achievement and an increasingly difficult social adjustment. It is this combination of factors that can be the impetus to high risk and self-destructive behavior for students. Panther Mentors ease this challenging transition by offering freshmen and new students a solid foundation to begin their high school experience.

With Panther Mentors, students help students succeed by using members of the junior and senior class as Panther Mentors.  

The benefits of Panther Mentors include an increase in the student’s sense of community, an improvement in a school’s learning and social climates, and a successful transition to high school for freshmen and new students.

 Panther Mentors will develop and implement connections for students through both academic and social follow-up activities.  The Mentors will learn a variety of skills including written, interpersonal and intrapersonal communication, team building, agenda setting, presentation/facilitation, time management, as well as health and balance.   Through the course of the year-long Panther Mentor program, these leaders are trained to be positive role models, mentors, motivators and teachers who guide the freshmen and new students to discover what it takes to be successful in high school.

Learn more about Panther Mentors on the SLP Athletics and Activities website