On Monday 3rd March 2025, MCR Pathway mentors from Semefab met Graeme Dey MSP, Scottish Minister for Higher and Further Education.
George Smith (Production Manager), Gillian Somerville (Buyer) and Andrew Bell (Production Supervisor) signed up to the MCR Pathways mentoring program in January 2024, and after induction sessions, were quickly matched with their mentees from Glenwood High School in Glenrothes.
MCR Pathway’s mission is to support young people in the UK, through one-hour weekly mentoring sessions with a caring adult, which has shown to boost confidence, improve academic success and open doors to a brighter future for young people.
Semefab’s support of MCR Pathways is another step in its continuing commitment and partnership with local schools in Glenrothes, and the wider Fife area. Semefab already has an established STEM Ambassadorship in conjunction with its annual Dr John Bruce STEM Awards, supporting DWY initiatives in Fife and voluntary Work Experience Placements through the WorkIt Scheme with local High Schools.
During the meeting, Mr Dey was able to listen to the experiences of young people from Glenwood High School who have benefitted from the MCR Pathways program covering all age ranges within the school.
Students were keen to express the invaluable support their own mentors provided; often by just having that person to talk to for one hour each week, has allowed students to feel valued, increase their confidence and their aspirations towards future goals they now felt they could achieve, where perhaps they had not before.
Kirsty Ferguson, Headteacher of Glenwood High School, said that the program’s success was in no small part due to the dedication of Melanie Reekie, MCR Pathways Coordinator for Glenwood High School. Ms Ferguson said, “Miss Reekie has been with the program since it started in the school over three years ago and is a highly valued member of staff and is well known to the students around the school. The mentoring program allows students to make networking connections with people they may never have had the opportunity to meet.”
Mr Dey was also keen to hear from the mentors and as to how they became involved with the Pathways program. Andrew Bell said, “It was through our partnership with Glenwood High School that I reached out to the DYW Coordinator to the school, and he put me in touch with Melanie who told me about the program. After learning about this, I put an advert on the company notice board to find out if anyone else would be interested in taking part.”
Gillian Sommerville went on to say, “I was very apprehensive about joining the program at first but decided to go along to the induction session. After seeing the difference that it has brought to young people through the stories we heard, my mind was made up and I completed the application to become a mentor.”
George Smith added, “It was such a privilege to sign up for the MCR Pathways mentoring program as I felt that it would be rewarding to give some time towards such an excellent initiative. I find the programme very rewarding and can only hope the time spent with my mentee is making a positive impact and has a beneficial effect on his future”.
MCR Pathways has now been operating in Fife for three years and is being introduced to more schools in the region.
Interested in becoming a mentor for MCR Pathways? Then please visit their website @ www.mcrpathways.org.
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