Mt. Vernon STEAM Academy's HS Heroes Teach Class At Elementary School

MOUNT VERNON, NY — Mount Vernon STEAM High School students who have excelled in their own rights, had a special chance recently to help elementary students to follow in their footsteps.

From the Mount Vernon City School District

Nelson Mandela/Dr. Hosea Zollicoffer School students sat down in their classrooms for a unique lesson taught by high school students recently. Junior Achievement High School Heroes students from Mount Vernon STEAM Academy visited the school and delivered lessons to elementary school students.

High School Heroes is a program provided by Junior Achievement, an organization that provides high school students with leadership opportunities and experiences. They offer financial literacy, work and career readiness and entrepreneurship programs to students in the Mount Vernon City School District from kindergarten through twelfth grade.

"They’re actually the teachers for the day, and they’re earning valuable community service hours as well as developing organization, leadership and communication skills," said Caroline Tzelios, programs and development manager for Junior Achievement of New York. "They’re really learning more about teaching, and the students here at the elementary school love having the high school students as their teachers for the day."

Students learn leadership, presentation, problem solving and critical thinking skills by implementing their lesson plans with elementary students. They teach about basic finances, needs and wants, how communities work and different choices to make with money.

"I think it's a wonderful opportunity for our older students to be examples and role models for our younger students," said Barbara Abbey, principal at NMHZ. "I think it is important that our younger students have students that they can look up to and emulate. I think it builds great community, and it's a great opportunity for our older students as well to see that they can have an impact and influence others."

Students at Mount Vernon High School have participated in High School Heroes in past years, but this is the first year that Mount Vernon STEAM Academy students were offered the program. With the introduction of this program, students in grades 9-12 had a chance to get their first teaching experience.

"This program means a lot to me because it’s giving me a new experience in life," said Ashley Guzman, 11th grade student at STEAM. "It’s showing me how I can teach others and learn things from them as well, which I can take to college. It has given me a lot of opportunities in high school as well because I can use these community hours to join programs and on my college and work applications. So far, my experience has been good because I’ve been studying, and I can see that the students were really engaged while learning from someone who is already in high school."

Some students may want to pursue teaching, so this program allows them to see firsthand what the job entails. Other students appreciate the opportunity to get involved in the community and give back to younger students, who are in the same position that they were once in.

Each high school student who successfully completes the program will also be credited with eight hours of community service.