Laker Learning Buddies and Windermere Prep's Unitas Spirit

Our Laker Learning Buddies are an integral part of developing the spirit of Unitas between the Lower School and Middle School students.  However, in Lower School, students begin their mentor roles starting in third grade when they are paired with the youngest of learners, our PreK-3 students.  The students in third grade have the advantage of not only being mentors but also have their own eighth grade Laker Learning Buddies.  When older children mentor younger students, everyone benefits from the interaction.  In particular, social skills grow, physical literacy, confidence, and self-esteem to name a few.  The older students also learn to develop leadership skills in an authentic manner. Children often look at adulthood as something far away from the world they live in.  That world is something they will enter when they are finished with school. However, students who are just a little bit older than themselves offer a different factor, a “cool” factor that is just outside their reach and something they can look up to and aspire towards.   We cherish and value our Laker Learning Buddy time and encourage you to ask your children about their learning buddy experience. ~ Melissa Fagan, Lower School Director