Advisors working with KKIS in The Riviera Maya, come across a vast number of students from all walks of life. In many circumstances students are living in poverty which is beyond their control.
Many students from developing countries, like Mexico, dream about a better future. Unfortunately, even basic education can be hard to attain when families are in low income.
They can face many challenges that affect their emotional well-being, relationships with others, and school achievement. When serving in schools with students who are living in poverty, it is important to know how to do our best to help and empower our students.
Mexico is one place where families must pay fees for education. Families in rural areas often subsist on 40USD per week, which makes it difficult for them to afford schooling for their children.
KKIS Foundation was established to provide ongoing support to these students so that they can graduate from high school and college to help their families escape from poverty.
KKIS scholars in the Riviera Maya meet with their academic advisors every 3 weeks on a Saturday. The role of these advisors in high school is important, especially to students in Mexico where higher education is not a primary focus.
The Advisors Program was created to keep the KKIS high school scholars motivated and on the right path.
Program advisors cover a range of topics when advising their students. Advisors are just one of the support services to assist students enrolled as a KKIS scholar. Our advisors work with our high school students to prepare them to be well rounded in many aspects of life.
We chose the Advisors carefully, contacting local professionals from our network who we thought would be great examples for the teenagers. Each Advisor is assigned 8-10 students.
“Each student has an adult who knows them and helps them navigate high school so that they leave with a meaningful personalized plan and prepared for life after high school”, Gayle explains (Gayle Collins, Founder of the KKIS Project.)
“The Advisors make the material come alive for the students, keep them engaged and moving forward. Without such a great group of advisors, the program wouldn’t succeed!” she said.
Our KKIS Advisors are involved with all phases of the student lifecycle journey, from enrollment and orientation all the way to graduation. They help with the selection and registration of courses, ensure that a student is on track to meet program graduation requirements, and assist students with any concerns or challenges they may have.
Once a month, Advisors and KKIS representatives take part in a one-hour session held in each school. The scholars have to commit to these sessions, participate in the classroom and work in their free time on special assignments.
Our mission is advising and assist students in their growth and development by constructing meaningful educational plans which are compatible with their life goals. It is a continuous and consistent process which is built upon the basis of frequent, accumulated personal contacts between advisor and advisee.
Our KKIS Advisors / Coordinators foster the development of the whole student who is a self-directed, motivated, responsible decision-maker and encourage the successful completion of degree requirements and timely graduation.
Our Advisors help students define and develop realistic educational career plans, with advisee during orientation to assist student with initial adjustment to university academic life. We, at KKIS, assist students in planning a program consistent with their abilities and interests while monitoring their progress toward educational/career goals and meet at least once each semester to review the progress toward completing the proposed academic program and to discuss grades and other performance indicators.
We also try to make informal out-of-class/office contacts to underscore personal interest in the student as an individual and be available for student advisees on a regular basis. Our advisors demonstrates a concerned and caring attitude toward our students, exhibits effective interpersonal and communication skills, have frequent contact with advisees and always monitors student progress.
At KKIS we are supportive for the betterment of the whole student.
We provide guidance and advice that will empower our amazing students to make decisions and take action. We do not have to make things happen for the children, but we can serve as a resource person and use our connections to help them accomplish goals. Our mission is to improve graduation rates and prepare students for careers; changing lives through education.
“We wanted to help them figure out who they are, where they’re headed, and how they’re going to get there” – Gayle Collins, Founder of the KKIS Project.
https://kkisproject.org/advisors-program/
Have a question or want to chat with The KKIS Project? Contact KKIS about scholarship and school supply programs, volunteer opportunities, and more.
To learn more about our Scholarship Program in the Riviera Maya, click here!
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