SANTA BARBARA EDUCATION FOUNDATION

Hi! We are freshman students in the Innovate program at Dos Pueblos High School and we are asking for your help to save our mentors on behalf of all our fellow Innovate students.

Innovate is a program for students who learn in a different way than what the traditional school system offers and helps them engage in personalized and student-driven learning. Some things that set Innovate apart from traditional school are how interactive it is, including field trips and project-based learning. One of the most important parts of Innovate is the adult mentors, who help keep us engaged in learning and make us look forward to going to class. Kate, one of our Innovate classmates, says, “Innovate is a program where a lot is going on all of the time, so having extra adults in the room can really help the students. For example, when students have questions about assignments, the teachers don’t have to split themselves apart trying to get to everyone because they have the mentors helping out and answering questions.” This 1:1 personal interaction with adults other than teachers helps kids both academically and personally. Another classmate, Zaden, shares, “I was having a hard time, so my mentor took me on a walk. We talked it out, and then when we got back to class, he helped me get started on my math work.”

Innovate mentors are funded solely through grants and donations outside of the school district funds. Unfortunately, funding that the program had anticipated this year became unavailable, meaning that the current mentors will have to find other jobs for the remainder of this school year.

Losing the mentors would mean making it much harder for us to get the support and learn the skills we’re supposed to. Princess, another Innovate classmate, says, “A personal experience I’ve had with a mentor is our deep conversations with each other. If I'm not having a great day, I can always count on a mentor to sit there and listen to me and help me cope with the situation.” Another student, Romeo, talks about how “my mentor has helped me with my math work by keeping me on task, helping me understand the problems I struggle with, and providing me a space to speak my mind. Losing the Innovate mentors would cause us to lose our motivation in doing school work.”

Please consider donating to the Innovate program because it would mean a lot to us students!

Donations made will go directly to Innovate through the Santa Barbara Education Foundation. Find out more about Innovate at www.experienceinnovate.org or meet our mentors at www.experienceinnovate.org/innovators#mentors.

Join our Innovate community by following us on Instagram: @innovatedphs