Teen Girls Become Mentors at Dallas High School
Staff Photo: Christina Barany
A Marsh Middle School student takes a photo of three Girl Talk mentors: (from left) Tessie Diaz-Arrastia, Claire Fontaine, and Mallorie Raybon.
High school youths help sixth-graders tackle mature problems
By Michael Hines
Staff Writer
While Marsh Middle School is fairly close to Ursuline and Hockaday, its sixth-graders might as well have been living in a different world compared to Claire Fontaine.
Claire is one of several Ursuline and Hockaday students who meet with Marsh sixth-graders as part of Girl Talk, a national mentoring program. Claire, who attends Ursuline, and Lauren Callahan of Hockaday founded Dallas’ first Girl Talk chapter last fall, and the weekly events have included some eye-opening discussions for both 17-year-olds.
“It’s just down the road, but it’s a totally different perspective,” Claire said. “The things I was going through in sixth grade was just boy problems or a friend had been mean to me. These girls are dealing with things that are so mature.”
