News

Picnic celebrates end of school year, offers down time for Robins mentors, students

  • Published
  • By Wayne Crenshaw
  • 78 ABW/PA
A group of Team Robins members have been reaching out to Houston County elementary school students who are in need of a little study help.

On April 30, approximately 150 students and their mentors at Robins gathered here for the annual REACH picnic.

REACH stands for Raising Education Achievement for Children. Robins employees volunteer to mentor students who are struggling academically. The mentors visit the students at school once per week and spend an hour helping them with their studies.

The REACH program is part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. It began at Robins in 1997 with the aim of helping students increase attendance and academic performance and reduce disciplinary problems.

Jywanya Dillinger, the REACH program coordinator at Robins, and a mentor herself, said it is an effective program.

"The kids are just generally more excited about school," she said. "They look forward to having a mentor at school. It's special to them when someone comes to get them out of class."

The picnic, which included inflatables and a meal of hot dogs and hamburgers, is the one time each year when the mentors and students meet outside of school. The mentors pay the bulk of the cost.

"The picnic is to celebrate the end of the school year and to say thank you to the mentors," Ms. Dillinger said. "It is a way to spend time with one another outside the structure of the school and everyone enjoys it."