Kids On The Rise: “Students Need More than Academic Assistance”

Kids On The Rise evolved out of the understanding that tutoring, in and of itself, is not a solution for children confronting opportunity gaps due to socioeconomic factors. These children need to know they have someone always in their corner, someone caring and understanding. In other words, they need a mentor.

It’s a proven fact: mentorship goes a long way toward helping children overcome the practical difficulties that prevent them from succeeding—not just in the classroom, but in life. Over the past two decades, Kids On The Rise has put this principle into practice, matching kids with mentors to help them reach their fullest potential. The holistic approach of this latest Kars4Kids small grant recipient has by now proven itself many times over—kids who might otherwise have dropped out of school are not only graduating from high school, but college, for a better, brighter future.

We put some questions to Pam Burris, executive director of Kids On The Rise, to learn more about this holistic approach to child development:

Kars4Kids: Can you tell us a bit about the Cumberland County community and the kids you serve? What’s your demographic?

Pam Burris: Cumberland County is a rural retirement community located in Middle Tennessee. The target population of our program includes children within grades K – 12 who are referred to us by a counselor, teacher, or other service provider. Typically, these children face opportunity gaps due to a variety of economic and social factors. We do not decline service to anyone referred to us by the school system.

Kars4Kids: Kids On The Rise evolved as an offshoot of the SMILE program, which focused on academic assistance. Why was it deemed necessary to create a new program, and in what ways does Kids On The Rise differ from SMILE?

Pam Burris: SMILE began as a tutoring program that worked with kids solely on the basis of academic need. Over time, the organization found that students need more than academic assistance. Kids On The Rise started as a separate organization to address this by creating a one-on-one mentoring program. This strategic shift into mentorship allowed the program to expand in reach and in impact. Mentors provide stable, consistent, and positive interactions to encourage students to overcome challenges and achieve social, intellectual, and personal goals. Its focus extends past academics and nurtures a child’s development across all domains.

Kars4Kids: Talk to us about your mentoring program. How often do mentors meet with children and what do they do with the kids?

Pam Burris: Mentors meet with their students weekly, typically after school or on weekends, to build a one-on-one relationship and foster the student’s development. The primary goal is simply to spend time together. Some activities that our mentors and students enjoy doing together include cooking, hiking, attending sporting events, volunteering together, and fishing. Group activities are provided by Kids On The Rise throughout the year. We select activities to nurture the bonds between the students and mentors, teach students new skills and information, and to expose them to experiences they might not otherwise have access to. These activities have included tours of local businesses, bowling, and field trips to the Knoxville Zoo, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, TN Tech, and UT football and basketball games. We also organize annual events such as our End-Of-School Celebration and Reindeer Ramble which provide our students and mentors opportunities to connect and build a sense of community with other mentor teams.

Kars4Kids: Why is mentoring important for young people? What are some of the benefits of mentoring?

Pam Burris: At Kids On The Rise, we believe that children are most likely to reach their full potential when surrounded and supported by positive, caring adults. A mentor listens, encourages, establishes positive boundaries, and acts as a strong role model to help students develop a sense of hope and vision for their futures. Research shows that students who are mentored are more likely to graduate from high school and pursue higher education. They are also less likely to engage in risky behaviors and report fewer incidents of depression. Mentoring provides personal, academic, and social benefits for students and adults involved!

Kars4Kids: Does your mentoring program have a specific aim or purpose that distinguishes it from other mentoring programs?

Pam Burris: Kids On The Rise focuses its efforts on the development of the whole child to address needs in all domains. It implements a trauma-informed approach to recognize and respond to the variety of experiences students may be facing and provide individualized support to their situations through one-on-one care. We also work closely with the school system and other community partners to ensure comprehensive resources and opportunities for the students in our program.

Kars4Kids: How many children do you currently serve? Does the number of mentors match the number of students, or are some mentors meeting with more than one student?

Pam Burris: We currently serve 64 students through the help of our 60 volunteer mentors! The goal of our mentoring program is to pair one mentor with one student so they may build an individualized, supportive relationship. However, some of our mentors choose to work with multiple students depending on availability and need.

Kars4Kids: Can you tell us how you prepare mentors to work with the kids? Do your mentors undergo some sort of training?

Pam Burris: Mentors are equipped with several training sessions prior to getting paired with a student. They first complete an online series on child abuse awareness and then an orientation on our processes and procedures. We require ongoing training annually.

Kars4Kids: You also have a program called “Book Buddies.” Can you give us an overview of this program?

Pam Burris: Book Buddies is a reading program in which trained adult volunteers will be matched with students in a classroom to read together weekly. We want students to be excited to meet with their Book Buddy each week and to practice foundational literacy skills together. Early literacy skills predict later academic achievement and positive adult relationships outside of the home are positive childhood experiences that are related to resilience in overcoming adverse childhood experiences. Students who participate in this program will be selected by their teachers. We anticipate that students with lower reading scores will most likely be selected. No students are excluded from participating.

Kars4Kids: What has Kids On The Rise achieved since its founding in 2003? Can you share a success story?

Pam Burris: Since the start of the program in 2003, Kids On The Rise has been empowering students in Cumberland County. We have served over 250 students in the past 20 years. We began tracking outcomes in 2015. Since that time, 31 students have graduated from high school. Those students spent an average of 7.5 years with their mentors. An additional 9 students have graduated from college or technical school.

One of our students is currently an air traffic controller in the U.S. Marine Corps. This is her testimonial:

“When I met Mrs. Terri, I was in third grade, and I remember being terribly shy. I didn’t want to talk much in those early Tuesday meetings. Then I told her I couldn’t read and I couldn’t spell. As an eight-year-old I knew all the things I couldn’t do, but I couldn’t list a single thing I could do. Luckily for me, Mrs. Terri somehow saw potential in me, so every week in the guidance office we met we would practice my reading or my spelling for a while and then she would get on the floor with me and play a game of pick-up sticks. I thought I was just playing games and doing some homework outside of class, but really, I was learning to trust Mrs. Terri. That foundation of trust we build back in the day has never faded.

“I don’t think she realizes not a single part of my life would have turned out so well if she hadn’t of taken a chance on the kid who said she couldn’t do anything. Kids On The Rise has truly changed my life for the better.”

Kars4Kids: What’s next for Kids On The Rise?

Pam Burris: Kids On The Rise continues to provide mentoring services for students. Our hope is to continue to expand our programs to serve more kids. One way we are doing that is through the Book Buddy program. This program will allow us to build relationships with more students by reaching a new pool of volunteers. We also will continue to intentionally focus on activities that help build character and confidence to support our students’ development.