GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett County Public Schools is the largest district in Georgia. The county's diverse demographics have led to big changes.
A mentoring program launched a new initiative this year - and it's focusing on Hispanic students.
Nine schools are part of the program that first started at Berkmar and Meadowcreek High Schools. Both areas with higher Hispanic populations. Now, mentors have gone into three more clusters, including Moore Middle School.
"They have someone to talk to, they feel confident around them, and it's adding someone else in their life," Nury Castillo Crawford, an academic support director said.
Cielo Gomez is in seventh grade at Moore Middle School. She's part of the 32 percent of Gwinnett's student population who identify as Hispanic.
"Just by mere numbers, diversity has increased and it is here to stay in the state of Georgia," Crawford said.
For a decade, she said GCPS has had a community-based mentorship program focused on young African-American boys and girls to tackle issues such as discipline and attendance.
This year, due to the high percentage of Hispanic students, the district launched this new segment.
In 2018, about 70 percent of Hispanic students at Gwinnett schools graduated. Raising that percentage is one of the program's primary goals.
"Data proved, data reflected that we did need to look into additional ways to learn how to support our kids outside of the classroom," Crawford said.
With the support in the form of mentors, like the one 11-year-old Gomez has, she says she can talk openly about anything.
"They are trying to discover themselves, they are trying to see who they are, and that's why they imitate a lot of other people, but when there is someone next to them motivating them, I think that's a difference," Crawford said. "You change the world."
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