Peer Group Connection is a class that was introduced in the fall semester. Curtis High School is the only school on Staten Island with this class. The class is based on a model created by Center For Supportive Schools. The class is made up of 36 juniors and seniors who were selected based on faculty recommendations. “It was created to teach the juniors and seniors leadership skills and to give freshmen upperclassmen mentors that have already been through what they’re going through,” said by Ms. Ricci, one of  four teachers.  There are two sections of the class, each section is team taught; Coach Packowski works with Ms. Ricci and Ms. Fugate, and Coach Archbold teach the other section.

“I was happy and a little scared when I was chosen to be a part of the class because I never mentored someone before,” said Ayomide Coker. After Coach Packowski assured her they would work with her on this fear during their class retreat, she became more confident.

The training occurred at a weekend retreat early in the term. On October 3rd-5th, the class stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Whitney, NJ, “In the beginning of the school year when we went to sit in the circle we talked over each other, but after retreat, they learned to listen to each other worked on things to do with the freshmen,” said Melissa Evans.

In order to understand what it would be like for the freshmen to communicate in a group setting the PGC students needed to understand group dynamics. They also needed to be comfortable with each other in order to facilitate the freshmen groups. They learned these skills through exercises and games.

A big component of the program is to make connections with the freshmen that are going to be mentored. One exercise that was a group favorite was “I Love You Baby.”  The game was designed to help the group  to become friendly which each other and foster a more relaxed atmosphere.

The class has a very specific structure.  On Mondays, the class works on skill building, co facilitating, teamwork, speaking, and asking open ended questions. On Tuesday, they run through the activity that they are planning to do with the freshmen. On Thursday the class prepares the activities they will present to the  freshman during the freshmen advisory class, keeping in mind how they personally reacted to the activity on Tuesday.  On Fridays they go over how the activity went the previous day.

The Freshman Advisory class has PGC come in every Thursday. The PGC work with them in pairs, and do  different group activities that help the freshmen develop the  skills they need.  Often these skills are developed through games. Coker who was now comfortable with mentoring said, “I love meeting with the freshmen because I feel like I’m making a difference by showing them that somebody actually cares about the decisions they make. I’ve built bonds with these freshmen and I don’t regret joining the class.”