ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / October 13, 1999

ST. ROSE – Albert Cammon Middle School launched its third annual HOSTSprogram recently, welcoming a host of new mentors for students.

HOSTS, or Help One Student To Succeed, is a national program to link community and business leaders with students on a one-on-one relationship.

It began in 1971 in Vancouver, Wash., said Ray Poplus, director ofinstructional support for St. Charles Parish Schools, and first came to St.Charles Parish in the 1996-1997 school term as a math assistance program at Landry Middle School.

Last year, a language arts HOSTS program was added and the program stretched to all middle schools and the program is already recognized as one of the top programs in the country.

“It meant so much to me that they were paying attention to me,” Regina Bertolino, a returning mentor, told an assembly Oct. 1 at Cammon MiddleSchool.

Other testimony as to the ease of the program was offered by Daryl Peltier, who commented, “Believe me, there’s nothing to worry about.”Students Kiki Francis and Troy Smith offered a celebratory poem about the program, which obligates a mentor to 45 minutes a day, one day a week, to help a struggling student toward academic success.

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