Practicing the same lesson plan over and over again, each time making critiques to make it better, the Mentor Training class works to make sure that they are prepared for their presentation to AGS middle school students.

“We create games that are meant to teach the middle school students,” senior Parker Dagenais said. “We teach them how drugs and alcohol affect the body and how they are bad.”

With their lesson plan the mentors hope to educate the students so that they make good choices if they are put into the presented scenarios.

“They’re just now being exposed to it all and their next step is high school,” senior Emma Cagle said. “It’s important for them to understand why drugs and alcohol are bad and why it’s not necessary to do anything in order to ‘fit in’. We are hoping to get to the students early and give them the facts before they start to make those decisions. It’s important now because they’re still so impressionable and we want to make sure they know the dangers of drugs and alcohol.”

The mentors create and practice their lesson plan and activities each class to make sure they are prepared, however they still take time outside of class to memorize it on their own.

“In class we practice our activities and use people in the class as an audience,” junior Alyssa Golden said. “Outside of class we practice our part more make sure we know the lesson plan.”

The overall goal of the mentors is to make an impact on the AGS students with their lesson plans preparing the students if they rencounter a scenario involving drugs and alcohol.

“We’re hoping that they will realize that you don’t have to do drugs or drink alcohol to fit into the high school or anywhere,” Cagle said. “Our main goal is to just at least get them thinking about the choices they’re going to make, and we hope they’ll make good ones.”

The mentors are putting the final touches on their lesson plans and plan to visit AGS after exams.