As fourth graders charged into the packed cafeteria, AVID seniors held name cards high in hopes of helping them find their designated match. The kids rushed to their mentors, eager to learn more about the seniors they’ll be spending the rest of the year with.

“We are someone that they do look up to even if we don’t realize it ourselves,” AVID senior Kristin Crisp said.

Academy 4 is a 4th-grade mentor program that partners RHS AVID students with 4th graders to help develop skills in leadership and trust with a senior companion. The program is entering its third year of partnership between RHS and RISD Academy with a new group of mentors and mentees.

“The mentors gain the opportunity and ability to really have a positive impact on a kid’s life,” Crisp said. “We get the satisfaction of knowing that we have helped the 4th graders pave that way for themselves.”

Senior Aubree Farris said that working with the program has strengthened her resolve to be a psychologist through her connection with the kids and her desire to make the world a little better.

“It shouldn’t just be something that you’re putting on your resume,” Farris said. “It should actually make an impact in the world of the people you’re doing it for.”

Crisp said meeting her friend’s hilarious fourth grader is one of the things that keeps her excited about future standout meetings.

“I started a conversation with him and he was such a bubbly light and full of energy,” Crisp said. “He made me laugh so much and the people around him laugh as well.”

Avid teacher Elizabeth Brown says she’s excited for what this next year will bring for her students and how they will evolve with the new responsibility.

“Watching them learn how to be a leader and taking on the responsibility of showing up and knowing that there’s someone waiting for them,” Brown said.