Mentoring

Having an engaged and empathetic mentor who takes individual interest in the whole development of each boy is a central value of our school. The goal of Sparhawk’s one-to-one Mentoring program is to assist parents in the intellectual, moral, physical, and spiritual education of their sons.The program aims to help parents raise their boys to be joyful and confident men who, by virtue of an excellent academic preparation and a directed emphasis on character development, will be strong future leaders of families and society.

Each boy at Sparhawk is paired with a faculty mentor. They meet regularly to talk about his experience at Sparhawk, his academic progress, his social interactions, and the integration of what he is learning in school with his life at home and among his friends. These conversations will usually generate one or two resolutions for the boy to focus on over the next couple of weeks. For instance, he may be encouraged to have a fixed time and place at home for an hour of homework, free from the distractions of television or music. Or he may be challenged to keep better order in his room or among his classroom materials.

The mentor is also in regular contact with the parents, so as to reinforce the family values and traditions each boy is learning from his parents, his primary educators. Every boy at Sparhawk needs to recognize that he is loved and understood, both at home and at school.

Each of our teachers recognizes that his role is not simply to pass on knowledge about a particular academic subject, but rather to care for the formation of the entire person. This means knowing their mentee well: his family situation, his likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, his goals and dreams. In this way, mentors help guide each boy to develop his unique, God-given talents.

Intellectual Development

The intellectual life is based on the contemplation of reality. This contemplation of reality leads man to seek to understand it and explain it to himself and others.

Although in Mentoring an emphasis is placed on the boy’s academic life—his classes, study habits, grades, and so on—it would be rather limiting to discuss only that subject. The intellectual life is a much broader topic, including the discussion of outside reading and the development of an inquisitive mind.

Moral Development

The moral life aims at the attainment of human virtues. The starting point in Mentoring is, therefore, to identify what human virtues the mentee has developed and which ones he still needs to acquire. We place an emphasis on sound judgment, fairness, self-mastery, sincerity, empathy, and order.

A key component of the moral life is friendship. In the context of Mentoring, topics such as team sports and social life will be addressed.

Physical Development

Boys will be encouraged to take care of their physical development and health by exercising, eating well, and getting sufficient sleep. Talking about these three areas with boys approaching their teen years is particularly important as they seek to exert more independence in their lives.

Mentors will also discuss participation in organized sports and school extra-curricular activities, unstructured play and recess, and use of free time.

Spiritual Development

The intellectual and moral life are the foundation of the spiritual life. Boys will be encouraged to have a worldview where God is not just the creator but a Father who loves us dearly. In fact, this sense that each one of us is a child of God is the starting point of the life of faith.

The mentor could start with small suggestions such as making a daily visit to the chapel, praying a decade of the Rosary, reading a bit of the Gospel every day, and so on. Not every boy at Sparhawk is Catholic. With great respect and tact, the mentee will be encouraged to be faithful to the practices of his family’s religion.