Fresno Unified starts mentorship program for students and technology

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- When COVID-19 first forced schools to close their doors - many parents and students needed help navigating the new normal.

"It's all new; they were trying to make up grades or finish a semester strong," says Kaylah Salinas. "There was just a lot of struggles there and we didn't have any support in place as a district because it was all so fast."

So the district developed a tech mentorship program, giving more experienced students the chance to guide their fellow peers.

"We did some training with them and really got this program up and going as a layer of support for those students working from home and those parents trying to assist students working from home," Salinas said.

The student mentors sign up for different shifts to be on call, helping their fellow students with tech trouble of all kinds.

"It gives them a push to help them with their school to ease through it and to get their work done as well because it can stall them too, and we don't want that for them," says Kevin Cordova.

Mentors are available to help students in grade K-12 district-wide and offer assistance via phone, email and even text to help their peers get through challenges.

"When we step in, we really help them get through that difficulty of the day to day struggle," Cordova said.