By Allison McDonald

It’s 7:15 AM on a rainy Thursday morning and the sounds of basketball and booming music envelop the gym at ARHS. Teens with backpacks trickle in, some bleary-eyed and shuffling their feet, others beaming and bouncing in to greet the others. Eventually, Maria Vega calls out — shouting to be heard over the music — to gather the students for warm-ups.

This is Morning Movement and Mentoring, a program of the school district and the town that aims to support middle-school teens in learning to be successful students as they transition to high school. The program aims to promote school attendance, academic performance, and appropriate behavior among participating students, according to Dwayne Chamble, Out-of-School Time Coordinator for the school district and a coordinator of the program.

Keisha, a student participant, says the program has had a big impact on her. “I had really bad grades and I wasn’t really the best kid in school. But after I started [the program], I was seeing myself change. I used to have an F in a class and now I have an A+,” she said in a presentation at an April meeting of the Regional School Committee.

The program runs during the school year Monday through Thursday from 7 to 8:45 AM and alternates between the middle school and high school gyms. Students get there by district van or private car; some arrive on foot. People may find it hard to believe that young teens would want to be anywhere that early, but as Family Center Director Marta Guevara says, “If you offer what they need and want, they will come out.”

After a brief warm-up led by Vega, the group breaks up for different physical activities. Some participate in organized basketball practice with volunteer coach Cedric Gonnet, some toss a frisbee in a circle, and some head to the workout room for a guided workout with Neighborhood Liaison Officer Bill Laramee of the Amherst Police Department. When the weather’s nice, some may head outside for a group walk or jog. The morning session ends with a cooldown and circle to help build community and set the teens up for the school day ahead. 

At various times throughout the morning, staff and volunteer mentors connect with individual students to check on their schoolwork and grades and help them with homework. “We’re holding them accountable,” says Guevara, and at the same time “we’re letting them know that we’re invested in your success [as a student].” Chamble describes their efforts to help students learn self-agency through the program and their whole middle school experience. He hosts lunch groups for them during the school day to go over their grades and coach them on talking with their teachers and taking steps to improve their grades.

They also work with teachers, coaching and partnering with them to support the teens’ learning. Guevara and Chamble talked about how important it is that the program takes place in the school buildings since it helps the students feel connected to the school community, to feel safe and positive about school, and teachers play an important role in extending that sense of community beyond the morning program.

The Morning Movement and Mentoring program started three years ago out of an idea of Seiha Krouch, a paraeducator in the middle school and the district’s Family Center, to help get kids to school. The school has a gym that’s not being used before school hours, so Krouch’s idea was “just get to the gym and shoot some hoops.” He started with just a handful of kids, and eventually had over a dozen students and realized they were on to something. 

Today, the program serves close to 70 students, with 30 to 40 of them attending on an average day. Students may be referred to the program by a counselor or teacher, while others join because they have friends in the program and want to join them before school. Funding from Amherst Recreation enabled the program to expand this year by paying for transportation for many of the students and by hiring a coordinator, Maria Vega, who also is the Director of Student-Athlete Development at UMass.

The program “is a model for all school districts,” Laramee told the Regional School Committee, and the Police Department is deeply committed to it. Indeed, while primarily a program of the ARPS district and Amherst Recreation, it is the partner organizations and volunteers that make it the vibrant, thriving program it is. In addition to the Police Department, CRESS, UMass Athletics, and Amherst College all are important contributors to the program.

Through Vega’s work at UMass, student-athletes from nearly every UMass team have contributed over 1,700 hours as volunteers with the program. Vega says it’s not just serving the community, it’s also supporting the well-being of the college students. She describes how one student-athlete who was struggling when his season was sidelined by injury found new meaning and joy through his work with the Morning Movement and Mentoring students – and came out nearly every morning.

Amherst College contributes to the program in multiple ways. The college has invested in the ARPS Family Center with an annual gift for several years. And, through its Community Engaged Learning program, two courses at the college integrate the Morning Movement and Mentoring program into curriculum. Erica, a sophomore at Amherst College, describes it as one of the best things about her experience at the college, saying their collaboration with the program “bursts the bubble that’s around campus.” 

Amherst College also hosted a college access day in the spring for the participating students. Called Collaboration for College, the event brought the ARMS students to the college campus for an afternoon of experiences, including presentations in the athletic center and guided experiments in the science center. For many of the middle school students, this was their first exposure to the Amherst College campus.

The Morning Movement and Mentoring program is delivering on its mission. School attendance and academic performance have improved among the participating students. People familiar with the program have suggested that many of the goals of the proposed youth empowerment center are being met through this program. But beyond the numbers, the impact of the program can be seen, heard, and felt from the students and their families. 

Bonnie, mother of Keisha and Andre, another program participant, says the program “is phenomenal,” and says “to know that, in our community, we have first responders that are supporting our kids, it allows our kids to see there are phenomenal police officers out there. I love it.”

Ellis told the Regional School Committee that the program really helped him “be more fit, make more friends,” and said “if you have bad grades, you’ll be helped out.” Ellis’ mom, Emily, said “I’m a huge fan,” and explained that kids are better able to get through the school day “because they’re getting what they need before school.”

Carlos says the program “held me accountable” and that he “felt safe, it’s a safe environment and I built a community” there. His mom, Paula, agreed, saying the program has changed many lives and adding “Thank God for this program.”

Watch the full presentation to the Regional School Committee.

Allison McDonald served on the Amherst and Regional School Committees 2018-2023 and was Chair of the Amherst SC 2020-2023 and Chair of the Regional SC 2020-2022. She’s lived in Amherst since 2002 and volunteers as the Managing Editor for The Amherst Current.