The STAND mentor program has shown a 24% growth in its volunteer mentors since 2024.
Isaac Johnson said his bond with his mentor, Steve Farley, was key for him.
“I really think our relationship is really good because he’s one of the few people who actually understands me,” Johnson said.
Farley, a deacon at New Springhill Baptist Church in Philomath, has mentored Johnson since his sophomore year at Oglethorpe County High School.
As a mentor, Farley would attend Johnson's basketball games and take him out to eat. Since graduating OCHS in 2026, Johnson has been working as an overnight stocker for Walmart in Athens. The two still take time to connect.
“He finished school this year, but I stay in touch with him,” Farley said. “He’s doing good so far.”
Johnson and Farley’s relationship started through the STAND (Students Taking a New Direction) mentor program offered for students in Oglethorpe County Schools.
The STAND program is in its third year and allows students in the school system to have a mentor to support them inside or outside of the classroom.
“Some kids may or may not have grandparents and it may be Grandparents Day and (the mentors) may go and eat lunch with the students,” Hunter said. “It's however they deem they need, what level of support (the mentees) need.”
Veronica Hunter, STAND program coordinator, reaches out to school counselors to locate students who would benefit from having a mentor. She said the program, which usually starts in September, allows for students to have an extra support system. The program started under the leadership of former Superintendent Beverley Levine after COVID-19.
“We have some (students) that just need an extra layer of support, they maybe, they just may need a trusted adult,” Hunter said.
STAND isn’t directly affiliated with the school system, though the groups work together in pairing students. This year, there are 26 mentors, which is a 24% increase from the 2024-2025 school year.
The program also isn’t dependent on academics or behavior, but rather a way for students to have an extra friend. And, the impact is often reciprocal.
“He really made a big impact on me,” Farley said about mentoring Johnson. “I just feel good knowing I’m helping someone else.”
Mentors receive background checks once they sign up to volunteer through the Sheriff's Office. Then, mentors are asked to spend about two hours a month with their assigned mentee. The pair decided how they spend time together, whether during school or outside of school hours.
“I have found that most mentors spend more than that,” Hunter said.
Superintendent Phillip Powell, in his first year in Oglethorpe County, was one of the first to volunteer when the ad went out on social media, Hunter said.
Hunter paired him with twin brothers in kindergarten enrolled at Oglethorpe County Elementary School, Lewis and Cooper Patterson, who are 5.
“The big thing about it is, offering up a mentor program to kids in our community plays a pivotal role in kind of shaping them and giving them another trusted adult in their lives who they can lean on outside of their immediate parental circle,” Powell said. “But still guide them in the right direction.”
Powell said he plans to meet with his mentees and get to know them through fun activities.
“And the good thing is, you’re with those kids for a long time,” Powell said, “normally you stay with them the whole way through.”