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PRODID:-//Whats Up Church//Church events//EN
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UID:120a4585-6109-4e3c-8270-fa377700abbc@open-doors
DTSTAMP:20261007T195935Z
DTSTART:20261023T180000Z
DTEND:20261023T193000Z
SUMMARY:Academy 4 Mentoring with Pillow Elementary
LOCATION:Austin\, TX
DESCRIPTION:Mentoring a 4th grader with Academy 4 is a great way to get to 
 know other Westover people and make a huge difference in our community. We
 stover is paired with 4th graders at Pillow Elementary\, which is less tha
 n 2 miles from Westover. Mentoring with Academy 4 occurs 1 Friday each mon
 th for 90 minutes. If you’ve got questions\, please contact our Westover
  coordinator\, Bryona Maxwell Bryona.Maxwell@academy4.org Westover’s men
 toring dates for 2025-2026 are (all Fridays): September 18th\, October 23r
 d\, November 13th\, December 4th\, January 22nd\, February 19th\, March 5t
 h\, April 9th\, and May 14th. Spark Clubs are 11:45-1:15pm and mentoring i
 s from 1:00-2:30pm. Pillow Elementary’s address is 3025 Crosscreek Dr.\,
  Austin\, TX 78757 Sound like fun? Get started by signing up to mentor thr
 ough the Academy 4 website here » Please note: mentoring requires a backg
 round check and training\, so please sign up in advance\n\nWhat is Academy
  4? Academy 4 equips communities and churches to build lasting relationshi
 ps with schools and families through mentoring 4th graders. Academy 4 volu
 nteers come together for 90 minutes\, one Friday a month to mentor fourth 
 graders in economically disadvantaged schools in and around DFW\, Austin\,
  and Memphis\, TN. Community You may be asking how we make this happen- ho
 w do we provide a mentor for EVERY single 4th grader? It begins with our p
 artnerships with local churches and the community. Every school we serve i
 s partnered with a local church\, and then we invite other organizations\,
  business\, and community members to come alongside the church to voluntee
 r together. And that is perhaps the most powerful thing about Academy 4: w
 e all serve together\, and collectively we all get to be a part of a commu
 nity for 4th graders and the entire school! We truly make them feel SPECIA
 L! They know that there are people in their community that care about them
 \, their teachers\, and the whole school! Why Academy 4? At the heart of w
 hy we do Academy 4 is this simple but profound notion: kids need positive 
 relationships. As this study from 2012 asserts\, “positive relationships
  are the most important thing in a child’s development.” (Source: Pian
 ta\, R.C.\, Hamre\, B.K.\, Allen\, J.P. (2012). Teacher-student relationsh
 ips and engagement: Conceptualizing\, measuring\, and improving the capaci
 ty of classroom interactions. In S.L. Christenson et al+\, (Eds)\, Handboo
 k of research on student engagement\, p. 369) Why 4th Grade? Fourth grader
 s are becoming more individualistic\, and their values and morals are form
 ing. 4th graders are on the cusp of adolescence\, have the language skills
  and cognitive ability to gather information\, formulate opinions and thou
 ghts that are well-organized and thought-out. They are at a stage between 
 childhood and adolescence where they are more open to and listen to adults
 . A study (Schmidt\, McVaugh\, & Jacobi) showed impact of mentoring is gre
 ater for 4th over 5th graders. They compared a group of 4th graders with m
 entors\, a group of 4th graders without\, and a group of 5th graders with 
 mentors. Not only did the 4th graders with mentors have better results tha
 n their peers without a mentor\, they also performed better than the 5th g
 raders with mentors. And that’s because\n\nHosted by Westover Hills Chur
 ch of Christ\n\nMore: https://whatsupchurch.com/events/academy-4-mentoring
 -with-pillow-elementary-2026-10-23\n\nSource: https://www.westover.org/eve
 nts/academy-4-mentoring-with-pillow-elementary-m72lm
URL:https://whatsupchurch.com/events/academy-4-mentoring-with-pillow-elemen
 tary-2026-10-23
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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