42Strong

Summary 

How does a community respond in the face of tragedy? 

An unthinkable horror occurred in the township of Oxford, Michigan in November of 2021, when a shooter killed four students and wounded seven other people at Oxford High School. The community of Oxford, family and friends of the victims faced the question no town or city should ever have to – though far too many have: How do we show our resilience while honoring the memory and legacy of those we lost? 

In the midst of their incredible loss, the family and friends of one of the victims, Tate Myre, came up with an answer inspired by the life of the young athlete, who had played as number 42 on his high school team’s football roster. This was the beginning of 42 Strong ™ , a peer mentoring program, meant to both serve and be led by the students of Oxford Middle and High Schools. But even more than being a response or answer to what had happened, 42 Strong was also conceived with the purpose of being as a shining light within the community and beyond, providing a sense of community, support, and purpose to those involved, in the dream that similar tragedies in the future might be prevented. 

42 Strong and its founders had a clear vision and purpose, as well as the support and interest of the community. They also had the goal of having the organization up and running as fast as possible, by the summer of 2022. But could a program model be developed in such a time frame that would meet the standards and best practices of the top mentoring programs from around the country? And what kinds of policies would need to be set into place for the organization to be sustainable?

This is what Spark Group Consulting and 42 Strong, of Oxford Michigan, set out to accomplish, with funding through a grant from Mentor Michigan+ in collaboration with the Office of Juvenile Justice, Office of Justice Programs and the National Mentor Resource Center. Spark Group consultants researched and compiled best practices from national mentoring organizations and National Mentoring Resource Center, in order to develop a comprehensive training program and policy standards for the new peer mentoring program for students in Oxford Middle and High Schools.

Spark Group and 42 Strong developed a 6 hour mentor training program, and formalized policies and a policy manual. These were integral steps in supporting the new organization’s vision for a better future — achieved by helping students intentionally create supportive relationships and develop a greater sense of purpose, community, and resilience — through an unmatched peer-to-peer mentoring program based on the consistency, caring and humble confidence Tate Myre displayed during his life.

Goals

The goals of the collaboration between 42 Strong and Spark Group included the following:

  • Ensure 42 Strong’s programmatic and policy alignment to the research-based best practices of the National Mentoring Resource Center

  • Establish and formalize a policy manual for 42 Strong, to include guidelines for recruitment, training, program evaluation, and support of mentors and mentees, as well as considerations for its board and leadership team

  • Develop a robust training program for 42 Strong mentor-applicants, in compliance with national standards and best practices

The partnership goals were established in support of 42 Strong’s vision to create student-focused outcomes through the support of simple but effective peer-mentoring relationships, including:

  • Increased connectedness to family 

  • Increased connectedness to peers

  • Increased connectedness to school and community

  • Improved self esteem

  • Improved overall well being

The approach

Spark Group uses a 4 phase process for program creation: Explore, Design, Implement, Evaluate.

In the Explore Phase of the process, the team sought answers to these key questions: What are the goals and objectives for each phase of project? What roles and positions will be needed to be established and filled, in order to support the peer mentors? What other resources are available to the board and leadership team? 

In the Design Phase, Spark Group consultants researched best practices and national standards for youth mentoring and peer mentoring organizations. Spark Group applied and incorporated these best practices to create a written narrative of a 6 hour training program for 42 Strong mentors, which the 42 Strong leadership team reviewed and adapted. Together, with Spark Group and 42 Strong leadership, a SWOT Analysis was completed, Project Timeline set, Theory of Change created, and drafts of a Policy Manual and Evaluation Plan written. 

In the Implementation phase, Spark Group provided support and clarification as 42 Strong leadership set the dates and agendas for the in-person training session and orientation dates for mentors and mentees, and 4 hours of training videos were filmed and produced.

In the final Evaluation Phase, the team addressed the key questions: How will outcomes of the program be measured?  How will program success be determined? How do we communicate success to our stakeholders? 

Challenges 

  • Short (~4 month) time frame in which project goals were to be completed

  • 42 Strong’s Board and leadership team entirely volunteer basis

  • No prior-year experience or data for the brand new organization to draw or build upon

The results

Despite the challenges, the collaboration’s goals of developing a research-based training program and policy manual within the projected time frame were achieved. 42 Strong’s inaugural program included over 100 mentor/mentee matches, a 6-person working board, and a leadership team consisting of 16 adult volunteers to serve as match support for the peer mentor pairs.

Success metrics include:

  • 6 hours of training program researched, written, recorded, and delivered by the May 2022 kick-off date (including 2 hours of in-person training and 4 hours of online video training)

  • 1 completed policy manual

  • 100+ mentor/mentee matches made by May kick-off date

  • Partnerships with mental-health professionals and research organizations to establish evaluative methods and standards

With the kick-off of their peer mentoring program, 42 Strong has also incorporated and established:

  • Monthly events for all program participants

  • Monthly surveys of all program participants to assess overall well-being

  • Bi-monthly meetings with team leaders

  • ‘Tate-Trait Tuesdays’ communications with all program participants

  • Weekly inspirational messaging to all participants