HELPS Mentoring Program in LPISD

09/17/2026

We are on a rolllllllll today! 1️⃣2️⃣!

La Porte ISD

09/17/2026

Our fifth year of Mentoring in La Porte ISD kicked off today with our annual Mentoring breakfast. We heard very encouraging mentoring stories from Jeff Martin, Adam Holland, and Terri Gillespie Cook.

Grateful for the counseling staff our mentor volunteers who participated, and the generous breakfast provided by the Stand Strong mens group at First United Methodist Church of La Porte.

Thank you also to Gringo's for the door prize donation and Sweet Pea Coffee Co for the lattes!

Https://lpisd.org/helps

09/16/2026

Mentoring can give a student another reason to show up.

HELPS mentors meet with students for just 30 minutes each week, but the value extends beyond that meeting. When a student knows a caring adult is expecting them, listening to them and noticing when they are absent, that relationship can strengthen their connection to school.

The organization “Attendance Works” identifies quality mentoring as a strategy that can improve attendance and academic engagement. Mentors can help students connect today’s attendance with tomorrow’s goals, recognize obstacles that may be keeping them from school and celebrate progress.

For our participants, that means showing up consistently and paying attention—not serving as attendance officers. For our sponsors, it means supporting an intervention with the potential to improve belonging, attendance and access to learning.

A lot can happen in 30 minutes—including helping a student want to come back tomorrow.

Https://lpisd.org/helps

La Porte ISD

La Porte Independent School District

09/16/2026

REMINDER! Tomorrow morning, all HELPS mentors are invited to join us for a morning of connection, encouragement, and community. We'll have inspiring speaker, fun prizes, and a great breakfast ready for you!

Hope to see you all there 🙂

La Porte ISD
La Porte-Bayshore Chamber of Commerce
La Porte ISD Partners in Education

09/15/2026

Mentoring matters in La Porte ISD! Thank you for saying yes to mentoring Dr. Martinez!

09/15/2026

Updated!

Https://lpisd.org/helps
La Porte ISD

09/15/2026

An important resource for every HELPS mentor in La Porte ISD, and while it’s not pleasant to talk about, it’s a sad but critical concern across the country. 

Human trafficking and exploitation do not always look like a stranger abducting a child. They can begin through friendship, attention, online communication, gifts, romance, transportation, or someone offering to meet a young person’s unmet needs.

As mentors, we are not investigators, and individual warning signs are not proof that trafficking is occurring. But because we spend consistent, one-to-one time with a student, we may notice meaningful changes—frequent absences, unusual exhaustion, withdrawal, unexplained gifts, a controlling relationship, fearfulness, or someone monitoring the student’s communication or movements.

Our role is simple:

➡️Recognize concerning patterns.
➡️Respond calmly and without judgment.
➡️Report concerns through the proper school and child-protection channels.

If a student shares something troubling, listen, thank them for trusting you, remind them that it is not their fault, and never promise secrecy. Do not confront anyone or attempt to investigate the situation yourself.

Thirty minutes of dependable, caring attention can give a student the safe relationship they need to ask for help. Being a trusted adult means noticing, listening, and knowing when to involve people trained to protect the child.

Please take a few minutes to review these resources from the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign:

Resources that you can use to start conversations and raise awareness of trafficking within your student and youth communities across the country.

09/14/2026

Officially up and running for year 5️⃣ in La Porte ISD!

The Heart of HELPS