Josiah is in the 5th grade and has been with CISNT for 2 years. He was first referred to CISNT by his school guidance counselor, Mr. Guerin, for supportive guidance and to build his skills in making responsible choices. Mr. Guerin also suggested that Josiah would greatly benefit from a male mentor to help him talk through his classroom behavior.
Melissa Chavez, the CIS Site Coordinator at Alexander ES, began meeting with Josiah one-on-one but Josiah was very reserved and would limit what he would share with me. Mr. Guerin shared that he had a unique home life change that Josiah had to learn to navigate, however, he was such a smart student, and it was not affecting his academics as he scores very highly. Once a week, Josiah and Ms. Chavez would have lunch in the CIS room. Every time, he would be very respectful and would participate in all of the activities Ms. Chavez planned. She was having trouble understanding why it was difficult for him to follow this in class.
After a few weeks of having lunch together, Ms. Chavez felt that Josiah started sharing a little more and began to trust her. He had a hard time putting into words how he was feeling and what his day to day looked like. In an attempt to get him to open a little more without words, Ms. Chavez had white papers and colors for them to draw a few pictures and then guess what each one drew, similar to the game pictionary. Ms. Chavez chose a few topics such as: someone they trust, one hobby, who they considered family, a week at home, one thing they liked about class time, one thing they disliked about class time. Through drawings, he quickly shared important details of his life and allowed Ms. Chavez the opportunity to see what the challenges he was facing. Josiah also shared, he couldn’t focus in school if he was upset.
Together, Ms. Chavez and Josiah worked on navigating his emotions and focused on his strengths in academics to encourage him to be engaged in school. This year, Josiah still has lunch in the CIS room, however, now he meets with a male mentor! Josiah has created a schedule and keeps up with his mentor times. He is always very eager to see his mentor and uses his words to communicate when he needs a little more support that week. Josiah also helps sort through the clothes and food pantry in school on Thursdays to organize and label any food items we may need to get rid of.
Ms. Chavez shares, “Josiah is extremely resilient and is constantly navigating his life changes gracefully. He is a continuous learner and has perfected his skill of adaptability. He is now able to see the community of support that surrounds him and uses it to his benefit. From not only his family, but from his mentor, and CIS team. His mentor and I remain proud of how much he has grown and the positive choices he is making even if we must remind him that even when he thinks they are small, they mean a whole lot!”
CIS believes that every student deserves to have a healthy one-on-one relationship with a caring adult and an opportunity to give back to their peers, and Josiah exemplifies both of these beliefs. We can’t wait to see what else Josiah will accomplish in the future!
