Twelve years ago, as Cheri Fletcher watched her husband coach their daughter’s elementary basketball team, she noticed something.
Fletcher observed the team run plays over and over, memorizing the name of the plays and what position they needed to be in while that play was being run. Knowing that their daughter would soon be in high school she thought to herself, “I wish we could send them off with a spiritual playbook.”
Knowing that instruction from Mom would just be another lecture, Fletcher decided to see if any upperclassmen from Washington's Auburn Adventist Academy (AAA) would be interested in mentoring. She was excited when two names were given to her and those students were willing to mentor the middle school classes.
With the support of both AAA and nearby Buena Vista Seventh-day Adventist School, the format was developed. The annual “spiritual game planning” week of prayer has been one of the highlights of the school year for both campuses.
Fletcher is in the process of creating and publishing a curriculum from 12 years of notes on the mentoring program. This is an intentional discipling program with a specific scope and sequence to help academy students experience God using them to make an impact in the lives of those who are younger and who look up to them.
“It has been so rewarding to watch the elementary students become the upperclassmen who then go back and touch the lives of our next generation of mentors,” says Fletcher. “Preparing our middle school students gives them strength for the challenges they will face in high school and gives them the tools to recognize the opponent and have a plan ahead of time.”
“I loved being a part of that program,” says Racheal Coon Gaskill, former student leader and 2010 alumnus. “Honestly that sparked the ministry and career choices I made in my life.”
Watching high school students mentor and teach the spiritual game plan is powerful.
Fletcher sees the tools that student mentors prepare to teach turn into a solid belief, becoming a part of the foundation that students will continue to build on.
“I didn’t get the opportunity at my school to be mentored, but I wish I had,” says Lindsey Reed, junior student and a current student leader. “I want to help them with their life experiences.”
“I think it’s a phenomenal vision God has placed in [Fletcher's] heart,” says Angel Ogando, Auburn Adventist Academy Church lead pastor. “It’s one of the best mentoring opportunities that high school students have.”
To learn more about this curriculum, visit www.cherifletcher.com/game-plan.
Cheri Fletcher, mentoring program founder, with Katie Henderson, Washington Conference communication intern
A student leader interacts with the Buena Vista seventh- and eight-grade boys.
This year's Auburn Adventist Academy student leaders meet with Cheri Fletcher and Angel Ogando, Auburn Adventist Academy Church lead pastor.
Lindsey Reed, student leader, sits with the Buena Vista seventh- and eight-grade girls.
Student leaders swap groups to answer specific questions from the Buena Vista seventh- and eight-grade students.
Student leaders swap groups to answer specific questions from the Buena Vista seventh- and eight-grade students.
Madlyn Ellis, student leader, sits with the Buena Vista seventh- and eight-grade girls.
