East High School -

The Freshmen Mentoring Program (FMP) at West functions to help students make a positive transition from eighth grade to ninth grade. Our program operates with the support of the Center for Violence Prevention and Dr. Alan Heisterkamp, based out of the University of Northern Iowa, using the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) model developed by Jackson Katz. 

Weekly Activities

Mentors share a violence prevention scenario with their homerooms. The topics for these include bullying, sexual assault, gender violence, gun violence, and mental health strategies. Mentors lead by sharing a hook video to get the topic started, help students consider real-life experiences, and then collectively think through positive ways to respond.

Influencing the Future 

MVP students have been known to go on and continue their positive impacts in the military, in their communities, and on college campuses, carrying the message of non-violence wherever they go. One of the strongest impacts of the program is that students understand complex situations before they happen, and understand a way to react as an upstander to prevent or change a situation so that it can end positively. 

Makayla Hoffart
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