Woodrow Wilson High School’s Next Step program has been around for five years and this year will be the sixth. Next Step is a federally funded peer mentoring program. There are a total of 25 peer leaders at Woodrow. The administrators of the program are Billie Vandall and Courtney Vandall. The program allows students to connect with each other as well as help them become leaders. Billie Vandall states, “Next Step helps you become leaders and also helps connect the ninth graders to our school environment.” Being a peer leader in Next Step provides you with college preparation. Originally Next Step was College Summit but then it became what it is today. Courtney became an administrator for Next Step because she felt the program was very important. “I really believed in the program. I think it’s really important. Sometimes peers can get through to students when teachers can’t.” Courtney’s favorite part about the program is that it helps build community at Woodrow. This year the program will be seeing a lot of growth. “We have a lot of students who have really bought into the program,” states Courtney. Courtney’s goal for Next Step is to continue providing something valuable to our students.
On the 8th of October, Next Step toured the Marshall University campus. Peer leaders expressed that they enjoyed this opportunity that was given to them. Touring Marshall allowed our peer leaders to get a sense of what college was like. “The purpose was to get them on a college campus and see what it looked like,” says Billie Vandall. Students were allowed to see the sizes of the dorms as well as the size of what the majority of classes would be like. Madison Hanna, a Next Step peer leader, states that she enjoyed seeing the campus up close and getting a real idea about what it would be like. Along with other peer leaders, Hanna joined Next Step to help other students. “I was also struggling at one point and needed the help they’re getting.” The next upcoming trip for Next Step will be a workshop at WVU Tech in December.
