Mentor family school program offers welcome

By LORI BERGLUND
Special to Lumen Media
 
            With any new adventure in life, it helps to have someone along who knows the ropes to help. With an influx of new students following the institution of the education saving accounts (ESAs) program in Iowa, a number of parochial schools have seen enrollment growth, including diocesan schools.
 
            “This year we had 29 new families, 41 new students,” said Dana Oswald, elementary counselor at St. Edmond Catholic School in Fort Dodge. “In 2023-24, we had 123 new students.”

            “We want to welcome them, and also help them feel comfortable coming to events,” Oswald explained.

            Thus was born the Mentor Family program. Oswald recruited current families to adopt an incoming family and help them navigate daily school life, as well as the many extra-curricular and social events shared by students and families alike.

            Raymond and Myra Ponce were mentored by a St. Edmond’s family last school year and volunteered at the beginning of the current year to mentor a new incoming family.

            "It was a learning experience for us, for sure,” Myra said. “It’s nice to have someone who can help and be a resource. St. Edmond’s is doing a very good job of that.”

            Myra said the program was very helpful for them and they were glad to volunteer to help another new family.

            “Because I had a mentor family, I knew that experiencing this is a good thing,” she said.

            They connected via email before the start of the school year and then met at an orientation night to show them some of the simple things that longtime families often take for granted.

            “We walked them around the school, showed them where to park,” Myra explained. “We told them that the first day of school would be chaos, lots of cars, lots of people.”

            She also introduced them to the popular SCRIP program, as well as letting them know what to expect throughout the coming school year.

            By telling them what to expect and where to find different resources at the school, they hoped to help the new family make a smooth transition to St. Edmond.

            “I think it really helps just getting to know people,” Myra said. “We really made an effort, emailing back and forth, but I think it’s also nice to have that face-to-face interaction.”

            The Ponce family, with one son in second grade and another son in preschool, moved to Fort Dodge from Virginia Beach, Virginia, a few years ago. She grew up in California and is an active part of the Filipino community in Fort Dodge.

            Myra is a researcher at Elanco, Fort Dodge Labs, while her husband is a corrections officer at the prison in Fort Dodge.

            Their mentor family is from South Korea, with the wife and children arriving only recently in Fort Dodge. The two families have formed a budding friendship and have been enjoying each other’s company outside of school events.

            “The dad was really wanting to attend a football game as a family,” Myra said. “So that’s what we did. We met at the game and the dad expressed to me that it was his first time seeing a football game in person. It was a really good time.”

            The two families are already looking forward to spending more time together.

            “A friend of mine is having a Halloween party and I am planning on inviting our mentor family,” Myra said. “It will be good for the kids and good for them to get to know my culture as well as the foods that we share.”

            The Mentor Family program is one of welcoming, according to Oswald.

            “We want to welcome them and help them become active members of our school community,” Oswald concluded.
 
 
Cover photo: Raymond Ponce snaps a group photo as the Ponce and Lee families share an outing to a football game as part of the St. Edmond Mentor Family program. Myra Ponce holds Oswyn with son Osmond at her side. They are accompanied by their mentor family, Sam and Grace Lee, with their children Ellie, behind her parents, and Lisa, in front.


Berglund is a freelance writer based in Dayton. She is a member of Holy Trinity Parish in Webster County.