Students gathered in the library’s Great Room on Tuesday, Jan. 23  to get more information on how to become part of the Peers Reaching Out and Sharing (PROS) organization at our school. PROS is a branch of the state’s Peer Assistance and Leadership (P.A.L.) program. The PROS organization held several meetings in the past week to inform prospective candidates about the requirements needed to become a part of the program.

The meeting covered all the necessary information about PROS and what qualifications and qualities an ideal member should strive to have. The meeting also covered the steps to apply, including essay writing, applications, as well as interviews. Mr. Kristan and Ms. Freeland, the sponsors of the class, spoke about the expectations of the program and how students should interact with younger students if their applications are accepted.

“I really want to do PROS to help out kids because I really like to babysit and I’ve junior counseled at a lot of things,” Cameron Hewett ‘22 said. “I volunteer to help out kids a lot and I think it’s really important because there are a lot of kids who struggle with mental health or socially, or just some kids have a harder time making friends. Or maybe they have a lot of energy and I can sometimes relate to that. I feel like it is important for a peer to help them that way. I really want to help kids in anyway because I struggled with some things like that and I feel like it is important to help people get through that.”

The PROS program is a set of students from our school who seek to help younger students who may have something going on their lives and need a kind listener as well as someone who will help them with schoolwork, be a mentor, and a positive example.

“I’ve probably wanted to be a PRO since elementary school since I first knew it was a thing,” Maddy Early ‘22 said. “I’m really excited and looking forward to it. The meeting was really nice because I was kind of apprehensive of all the things I’d have to do for it but it was a really good meeting.”  

The program wants applicants who are dedicated, responsible, and committed to their academics as well as helping others. The program also involves community service and students spending their class block traveling to the elementary and middle schools to spend time with their assigned student called a PALee.

“The meeting helped me figure out all the different information for PROS and what I need to prepare for which is really nice because I didn’t know where to start,” Hewett said. “The people in charge [of PROS] seemed very nice which makes me feel better going into it knowing that they are nice, comforting people.” 

The next step after attending one of the mandatory information meetings is submitting applications to the main office by Friday, Feb. 7. After the essay writing and interviews, letters will be sent out on Friday, March 13 to inform students about whether or not they have made it.