The “It Takes a Village Mentorship” program will have even a larger presence in Danville District 118 this school year than originally planned. In August, the District 118 Board voted for Pastor LeStan Hoskins and his wife Jennifer to bring their mentoring work into North Ridge Middle School this year, at a cost of $20,000. That way, they will be continuing to mentor the students they had mentored during their South View days.
Now, at no additional cost to the district, the Hoskins will also be back at South View this year mentoring some new students. Pastor LeStan says, he’s ready to get back to work.
AUDIO: We just nope now that we can continue building relationships with the students that we’ve had before. We’re excited to get back in the school buildings, to help the students to succeed and to thrive; and to just be the best that they can be in the classroom, and outside of the class.
Pastor LeStan Hoskins and Jennifer Hoskins explaining their “It Takes a Village” mentorship program to the District 118 Board in February of 2023.
Jennifer Hoskins says the decision to also return to South View to take on some new mentees was made possible by an initiative they were asked to take. When the ESSER COVID relief funding for schools was ready to expire, the District118 Board asked Pastor LeStan and Jennifer to find some new funding to help their program.
AUDIO: We were challenged, I would say, and we became a vendor with the U of I. And so, the U of I is now providing us a grant which is going to allow us to be over at South View; where we can, as my husband said, help them be the best version of themselves.
They’re hoping to have this year’s “It Takes a Village Mentorship” fully active within a few weeks.
Meanwhile, the Board has received results of the online cell phone policy survey they took, and will be considering action at a later date. The survey received responses from 430 adults, 384 students, and 128 staff members. Eighty-six percent of students, as well as 82% of adults, believed that cell phone should not be banned. There were some variances, however, when it came to specifically in classrooms or specifically in hallways.
