Children First: Farmersville High teens help elementary students

TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- High school seniors in Farmersville Unified School District are helping younger students improve their reading, math and communication skills through a peer mentoring program designed to support academic growth and inspire future educators.

Cielo Jacuinde and Evelyn Saldivar, seniors at Farmersville High School, participate in Reach and Rise, a program that pairs aspiring educators with elementary students who need extra help in reading, math or other subjects.

For students such as Elijah Viveros, the support has made a difference.

"She helped me with my reading when I was only at reading level three. Now, I can pronounce them more often, and when we took the STAR test, I got a better reading score," Viveros said.

Jacuinde said patience is essential when working with younger students.

"What I already knew going in was patience was the main thing. A lot of kids have different attitudes and behavior...the way you respect the kids is how they respect you back," she said.

Farmersville, a small rural city in Tulare County with three elementary schools, has seen enough success from Reach and Rise that the district is launching an Education Pathway.

Carlos Nevarez, principal of Snowden Elementary School, said the high school mentors are able to connect with younger students in a unique way.

"They speak the lingo right. They speak the same language, the cool language, they're hip," Nevarez said.

Beyond academics, educators say the program helps build relationships, trust and confidence.

Alexis Mata said the support she received in math helped her better understand the subject.

"She was helping me with math because I do struggle a little bit but I didn't understand a little bit so she came up with me and sat with me and taught me how to do it and now I know how to do it," Mata said.

Saldivar, who hopes to become a speech pathologist, said her own experiences learning English help her relate to students.

"I came into school in kindergarten speaking only Spanish, barely any English and it was really difficult for you know myself and other Spanish speakers starting Kindergarten starting school, we didn't really know much of what was going on," Saldivar said.

Jacuinde said shared experiences often help create connections with the students she mentors.

"A lot of kids had a stuttering problem and I had one of those stuttering problems too growing up like everything kind of aligned in itself," she said.

Elijah said Jacuinde helped him work through similar challenges.

"I also had like a stuttering problem with the words I couldn't pronounce. I would stutter on them and then she would help me through it and help me pronounce them," he said.

Another student, Charley Santillan, said the mentoring helped improve his speech.

"She helped me with my um to move my tongue because if I don't move my tongue, my spelling from my tongue will be like all messed up," Santillan said.

With a little encouragement, students use their imaginations and lose themselves in their favorite characters.

"Comic books are something that really, really grabs their attention because it has all the pictures, it talks about you know, Spider-Man, the movies they like to watch, video games," Evelyn said.

As Jacuinde and Saldivar prepare to attend Fresno State, district leaders say they hope the students eventually return to Farmersville.

"We want these kids to come back because they are leaders. They are self-driven, they want to give back to the little ones," said Selene Medina of Farmersville Unified's Career Technical Education program.

For district leaders, mentors and students alike, the program demonstrates how helping others overcome challenges can create lasting benefits for everyone involved.

Watch "Children First: Learning and Earning" Sunday, July 26 at 6:30 p.m. on ABC30 and wherever you stream Action News.

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