What is the goal of Roman-2-Roman? Collette: The mission of Roman-2-Roman is to provide a space for students to discuss their individual goals both academic and out of school, support one another in their endeavors in and out of the classroom, and create strong, genuine relationships with leaders in the school. How was Roman-2-Roman created? Collette: Initially, Mr. Cronister and Mr. Tebbens wanted to create some sort of buddy type program for the upper school. At the beginning of the school year, Mr. Cronister made an announcement about this student driven mentoring program and from there the steering committee was formed. Roman-2-Roman is entirely student designed. The steering committee was given total freedom to create what we thought would best benefit the entire community. How has it been thus far? Collette: Roman-2-Roman has had a great start. After pairing up freshmen to upperclassmen, we had a meeting in 411 so pairs could get acquainted. The room was full of smiles and laughs, and the overall response was very positive. We had another meeting just before project week, which again was a great bonding opportunity for those involved. Everyone seems to enjoy getting to know someone new and having another person to smile at in the halls. How do you see Roman-2-Roman in 5 years? Collette: Personally, I would love for every student in the upper school to be somewhat involved. Whether that means every freshman being paired up with a junior or senior or having the freshmen and sophomores go to the middle school to act as mentors for the seventh and eighth graders, I think that there is an opportunity for everyone to do their part. In five years, I see Roman-2-Roman acting as a way to bring the community closer together, which would better everyone’s experience at Latin. What does a Roman-2-Roman meeting look like? Collette: Our first two meetings have been in 411. These meetings were meant to serve as icebreakers for the mentors and mentees to get to know each other. We provide some conversation starting questions, but most of the conversations flowed naturally. What is planned for the rest of the year? Collette: The steering committee does not plan to have many more of these large meetings. We would like to see mentors and mentees meet outside of the group setting whether that means going to Starbucks for coffee or attending each other’s plays or sporting events. Our goal is to create lasting friendships between people in different grade levels, so it’s now up to the students to foster these relationships. This program is student driven, so we hope the same drive to get to know each other continues through the rest of the year. We are very excited about the future of Roman-2-Roman!]]>