Thirty-two Monroe High School students were honored for achieving their second trimester academic goals as part of the MHS Allies in Monroe (AIM) program. The students were honored at a banquet at the Robert Hutchinson Fraternal Order of Police Hall on Thursday, March 19.

     “These students – and their allies – have worked extremely hard for this honor and we are very proud of all of them,” said Monroe High School Principal Valerie Orr.  “They set tough goals and they have achieved them.”

     AIM is an academic incentive and mentoring program at MHS where students and their mentors, or Allies, work to achieve agreed-upon academic goals, which includes at least a 15-percent boost in their GPA over a trimester.  AIM is the only program of its kind in a Monroe County high school.

     At the banquet, four students spoke of what they had to overcome to achieve the AIM recognition.  The speakers were: a homeless student who received considerable encouragement from his Ally; a student who had a baby during the school year but whose Ally continued to contact her and encouraged her to complete her homework while homebound, even babysitting so the student could study; a student who saw her grades improve because her Ally called her at 6 a.m. every day to make sure she got up for school; and a student who narrowly missed AIM recognition by .01 points last trimester but who was encouraged by her Ally to try again and not give up.

     AIM is entirely funded by private donations, which are tax deductible.  Monroe Public Schools does not fund the program but is the fiduciary. Donations can be made by contacting either Mrs. Orr or Mrs. Kim Diven, an assistant principal at MHS.  The program is open to any student at Monroe High School because AIM believes that every child needs someone to believe in them.  The program is based on the premise that in life, when you work hard you are rewarded.  Allies are comprised of not only school staff members, but people from the community, too.      

     All of the students who were honored at the March 19 banquet received checks for $200 from the AIM program as well as assistance from Monroe Bank & Trust in setting up savings accounts to hold the money for college.  Students are encouraged to use the company for college expenses.  In fact, many will earn up to a full year of tuition at Monroe County Community College. 

     Students who earned their AIM recognition for the second trimester were:  Aja Alamo, Cortney Ball, Taylor Bean, Kyle Cassidy, Jhonathan Childs, Chris Christian, William Conley, Carl Crego, Precious Dafney, Dathan Dickerson, Kylie Fowler, Jalene Frayer, Nathaniel Gaw, Rachael Guimond, Rosemary Guzman, Nicoven Hall, Jacob Hensley, Maurice Hunter, Dominic Johnson, Nicholas Kessler, Brooke Masserant, Joseph Minini, Ryan Nunn, Katelyn Puruleski, Scottie Risden, Arthur Rone, Brendon Russeau, Jared Salliotte, Sammey Shaw, Joseph Sivils, Randi VanBrunt, and Lauren VanKlingeren.