By Eric Stock

NORMAL – A freshman mentoring program at Normal West High School hopes to make a big splash at a new fundraiser next week.

A color splash 5K run at Parkside Junior High in Normal at 8:30 a.m. Saturday is a run in which participants get splashed with colored powder along the route. The money aims to help ensure the program can avoid budget cuts due to the uncertainty in state funding.

Senior Mentor Sara Verda said the program helped her greatly coming from Trinity Lutheran School in Bloomington where she was in an 8th grade graduating class of 29.

“Coming to West was obviously a huge change,” Verda said.

Verda said she has noticed a big difference in the freshmen she mentored.

“It’s great to look back and think , these kids didn’t even talk to me at first,” Verda said.

Senior Hailey Wickenhauser said her time with the freshman mentoring program has been rewarding.

“Just to see some of them who don’t come from very much or don’t think they can accomplish what they end up accomplishing with some help is nice to see,” Wickenhauser said.

Mentors help freshman with homework and the basics of how to get around the school, in ways to made high school less intimidating. The program relies on some teacher involvement and supplies, which could be cut as state funding remains uncertain.

Jason Klokkenga is lead teacher for the mentoring program. He said the role of the mentor is to help their younger schoolmates make friends and feel more comfortable at school.

“(Mentors) are going to make you stick out a little bit, but in a positive way,” Klokkenga said.

More information and registration are available at www.unit5.org.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].