Big Brothers Big Sisters says ‘Lehi Up’ mentoring at scale reduces absenteeism and disciplinary events

Big Brothers Big Sisters described an expanded, school‑embedded mentoring model called Lehi Up that places trained mentors and a site supervisor in schools to mentor entire grade cohorts, reporting large reductions in absenteeism and disciplinary events in participating schools.

Kwame Johnson, president and CEO for Big Brothers Big Sisters Georgia, said the organization adapted its one‑to‑one mentoring model to provide daily mentors in school buildings so every student in a grade has consistent access to an adult mentor. The Lehi Up model assigns two gender‑split mentors to a grade (about 100 students) plus a site supervisor and central support staff; mentors are trained in restorative practices and social‑emotional learning and remain with cohorts as they move up grade levels.

Program data presented to the committee show substantial declines in chronic absenteeism in three example schools (reported differences of roughly 26–58 percentage points across selected grade cohorts) and reductions in disciplinary events and improved student connectedness. Big Brothers Big Sisters said the model works in urban and rural settings; its Macon affiliate is piloting paid professional mentors in counties where volunteer pipelines are thin. Presenters asked for sustained funding to scale the model and noted it has been adopted as a national model being piloted in 20 cities.