Readying for more peer mentoring

By Don Rush

A celebration of accomplishments for 42-Strong – The Tate Myre Foundation recognized more than 280 members of the organization on April 23. It was the foundation’s first Closing Ceremony, which took place at the Legacy Center on N. Lapeer Rd.

The foundation was started by the Myre family after their son, Tate and three other Oxford High School students, Hana St. Juliana, Madisyn Baldwin, and Justin Shilling were killed on Nov. 30, 2021 by a fellow student with a handgun. The foundation supports a peer mentoring program that matches high schoolers with middle schoolers.

Adult leader Scott Claxton said the group’s closing ceremonies recognized those matches. At the ceremony, each mentee, mentor and adult leader was given a challenge coin for “stepping up to the plate to build a better community one relationship at a time,” he said.

Matches, he said, are intended to last one year. Mentors are students from the 10th through 12th grades, their mentees are in grades seven through nine. They are matched based on student likes and similarities and ideally there is a three-year age gap between mentors and mentees. Each group of 10 mentors/mentees has an adult leader assigned to them.

“We match students, mentors to mentees in May and the year lasts through April. We are about to match students up for next year. Mentors are going through online training and then will go through in person training. Then we will have a whole day where mentees can meet the mentors.”

During the summer there will be monthly activities. Some will be large group meetings and some will be smaller activities initiated by adult team leaders.

“Having someone to be matched with has proven to be really powerful,” Claxton said.

Between kids and adults, he said, there were over 300 people at the Closing Ceremonies.

“Last year we had 268 people participate in our program with 19 group leaders,” he said. “This coming year we are looking at an enrollment of over 400. Over 200 matches, supported by 28 adult team leaders from the community. It’s crazy how it’s growing. It’s really great that in our first year we were still working out the bugs, but I think we are giving the community something they can be proud of.

“What’s cool is a kid typically goes through school these days and they stay with their age group, unless they play sports. This program puts together a whole web of relationships that wouldn’t even have existed without it.”

Claxton said the program’s success is growing. “We even have some seniors trying to figure out how to build a club like this in college.”

Throughout the year the students also “give back” to the community, Claxton said. Some of the “give backs” last year were: organizing and sorted cans at Oxford/Orion FISH; cleaning up Oxford Open-Handed’s new location; creating holiday “thank you gift bags” for local police, fire and sheriff departments; Making fleece blankets to donate to kuddle4kenzie, a nonprofit that donates blankets to hospitalized children during the holidays; visiting Independence Village Senior Living complex, visiting with residents, making ornaments, crafts and playing games; putting together “Birthday Bags” to donate to FISH; creating “thank you” cards, cookie trays, gift bags and ornaments to thank local businesses who have supported 42 Strong and the community over the last year; volunteering to work at PEAS Animal Sanctuary in Oxford; and, putting on fresh coats of wax on the fire trucks at Oxford Fire Department Station No. 1.

The program helps build student confidence as well as helping them deal with the stresses they face and provide productivity tips.

At the end of the ceremony, Claxton said the Myre family thanked the community for supporting them and the foundation. “They thanked all the businesses that have donated to us so generously and to the families for trusting us with their kids.”