Project Spotlight:M&T Expansion

By Seong Jong Hong     9/7/11 7:00pm

This fall, Rice students will meet in pairs and have an exciting bonding moment. No, not the awkward date you'll have for Screw-Yer-Roommate, but for PAIR's newly expanded Mentoring and Tutoring Program .

On Sept. 20, the Rice chapter of PAIR, which stands for Partnership for the Advancement & Immersion of Refugees, will host its first session of Mentoring and Tutoring of the school year for refugee students from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Fondren Middle School. PAIR has ambitiously expanded its Mentoring and Tutoring program for the 2011-2012 school year.

According to Sid Richardson College sophomore Annie Kuhl, the Program Coordinator for Tuesdays and Wednesdays (which are the recently added session days)  the expansion was necessary to provide a greater sense of continuity for the students who only saw their mentors twice a week at most.

---

---

"The focus of the entire program as a whole is to improve the English and social skills of the refugee students," Kuhl explained. "And so we expanded the program to Tuesdays and Wednesdays to give the kids more consistency after school so they can come every day, and they can also participate in activities."

Furthermore, even though the same number of refugees will take part in the program as the previous years, the program coordinators expect most volunteers to commit to only one day, hence the increased need for Rice volunteers, Kuhl said.

This expansion did not happen spontaneously, and Kuhl explained the roles that the officers played in helping this expansion happen.

Jones College sophomore Mahima Dhume, the publicity officer, printed fliers that were posted in every college; she also helped create announcements that advertised Rice PAIR, Kuhl confirmed.

"Wiess College senior Amit Sureja and Baker College senior Diane Hwang, both coordinators for Mondays and Thursdays, helped to keep the consistency of the program and coordinate the program as a cohesive unit," Kuhl stated. "Jones College Junior Sallyann Zhou and I are the coordinators for Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and we are in charge of getting volunteers to design activities for the new days."

Finally, Jenelle Thomson, an AmeriCorps VISTA for PAIR, helped organize the program by talking to the students, their parents, and the schools, Kuhl said. "She did all the administrative work."

For these people, the expansion was not an easy task. According to Kuhl, there were some difficulties in implementing this change.

"The most difficult thing is creating new set of activities to do and creating a program that works with them," Kuhl related. "Also, getting volunteers who are excited and committed is a big challenge."

Kuhl added that Rice PAIR had a decent turnout this year, but it will always welcome new volunteers over the course of the year.

Those who are interested in this opportunity to connect personally with refugees and to help them acclimatize to American culture can contact Rice PAIR at PAIR@pairhouston.org.

---