By talking with students during fifth block to offer advice and help, pathway ambassadors try to inspire students to follow their career path in order to give them confidence and valuable knowledge for their desired career.
According to Pathway Mentorship Coordinator, Amy Tarlo, the pathway ambassadors are seniors that went through the Pathways Program and “have a really good understanding of what [the program is.]” The students are used to help younger students understand and give experienced examples as they go through the Pathways Program. “Their biggest responsibility, in my opinion, is getting students coming up through grades ninth, tenth, and eleventh to understand what the pathways program is,” Health and Human Services Coordinator, Stuart Marjoram said.
According to Marjoram, the ambassadors also teach kids in their grade level too. “Then they get to their senior year and [the pathway ambassadors] explain the senior project to them. It’s basically to educate.”

According to Marjoram, advisors tend to meet up with students during fifth block. “Fifth block activities are not every fifth block. There are many things going on during the period so we just pick an open period and slot in when it’s a good time and when there’s room for us,” Marjoram said.
“Fifth block is very convenient in terms of organization. All of the students are supposed to be there. It’s a good way to organize who you’re going to see and what grade you need to talk to since it’s organized by grade level,” Pathway ambassador Lindsay McMakin said.
Although fifth block is convenient, preparing for the period also takes quite a bit of time according to Marjoram. “You have to sort of educate the fifth block ambassadors by telling them what point they should try to get across to the audience.” According to McMakin, a lot of the fifth block activities have been about the computers since pathways is down, and about the seniors to help them with their senior projects. Some ambassadors like McMakin think that having a different fifth block and working specifically with the people who run pathways is one of the best things about being an ambassador. According to McMakin, it’s very nice because “you can ask questions for help” and “it’s easier to get information”. Spreading what she learned to others in need is what McMakin enjoys.
McMakin thinks the pathway ambassadors are a good in-between for students to get more experienced help other than talking to the teachers. “I think that it can be hard for some students to see Mr. Darcy or Mrs. Tarlo at any point so it’s easier for students to come to us,” McMakin said. McMakin was confused at first about why the school does pathways and what’s going on in senior projects and that’s why the ambassadors are there. They help students so there isn’t that type of confusion. “I’d like to think that they do it because it had value to them. They’ve found value in the program and they want to share the good word with the students,” Marjoram said.