PALS, Peer Assistance Leadership and Service, is a program that is offered throughout Austin ISD schools in which high school students mentor younger students at elementary schools. The program is beneficial for both the PALS and PALees as one group learns how to serve as a role model and leader and the other can learn from their older mentors. Over the years, many former PALS have gone on to work in schools and have continued their work as role models and leaders for children. Makala Wangrin is one of these former PALS and is now a first-grade teacher at Gullett Elementary School.
Wangrin attended McCallum from 2009 to 2013. At UT Austin, she majored in Applied Learning and Development. Wangrin credits the PALS program as one of her inspirations for wanting to become a teacher.
“The program definitely allowed me to envision myself as a teacher because we spent so much time at schools interacting with children from a mentor perspective, oftentimes, in a more formal and supportive way,” Wangrin said. “This allowed me to get a glimpse of what being a teacher could potentially look like.”
Wangrin knew she wanted to work with kids before joining the PALS program, but wasn’t sure about which direction to go.
“I thought about going into health care, being a pediatrician or a nurse,” Wangrin said. “I also thought about being a psychologist; however, in my heart, I always felt drawn to teaching in a way that I didn’t quite feel towards other professions.”
Richard Cowles has been the sponsor of the PALS program at McCallum for the last 13 years and was the sponsor while Wangrin was at McCallum. Cowles believes that volunteering has been a pivotal part of his life and that helping those around him has been very rewarding.
“As I like to say, my life’s best decisions have come through volunteering,” Cowles said. “When I was lost in electrical engineering and uncertain what to do. I did some volunteer work, teaching a science lesson at an elementary school, and that made me realize that I was a teacher. And so service and volunteering has always been a big part of who I am, as well as creating a place where people can become a family from all different walks.”
Wangrin credits the program with teaching her valuable life lessons about children and those around her.
“PALS really emphasized how everyone you meet experiences life differently,” Wangrin said. “Everyone has their own perception of the world and understands things differently. Each of my PALees had their own special characteristics that made them the person they are. That is something that has really stuck with me going into teaching and throughout my time as an educator.”
Cowles believes that the PALS program can be very beneficial for students who may want to be teachers in the future.
“I think that they [PALS] see the immediate impact that they can have on young lives and all that the good that can come of it,” Cowles said. “So I think having that, that realization, and as well as the fact that they see me create a positive environment as a teacher, they feel so a part of the community that therefore they wanted to reach out and then create those communities as well, and teaching is a great way to do that.”
Nathan Howard is a senior at McCallum and a current PAL who is interested in becoming a teacher in the future. This is Howard’s first year as a member of the program, and he is looking forward to becoming a music teacher.
“I’ve always loved the feeling of being in rehearsal and working through the highs and lows of a piece with a group,” Howard said. “There’s a special energy there picking through details and putting it all together that I thrive on. I also just have a passion for teaching and giving back what I’ve learned to other kids.”
Howard said that the PALS program has provided him with useful experience working in schools that will help him in the future.
“I’ve learned a lot about how kids of different ages think,” Howard said. “In PALS, we put a large emphasis on communication, which is really the foundation for making healthy relationships. I think I’ve gained a lot of experience communicating with people younger than I am, which will be very useful in my career.”
Wangrin believes that the PALS program is beneficial to the community. The interactions that the PALS and PALees have with one another help to strengthen a much larger community.
“What is so special about a program like PALS is that you are a person who is part of the same community your PALee is part of,” Wangrin said. “You are both growing up in Austin and probably have similar experiences because of these circumstances. I think it is such a unique experience to be able to support someone who sees you as part of their own community. You are able to see yourself in their shoes, and they have a glimpse of what is to come through conversations and time spent with you.”
Like Wangrin, Cowles believes that community and kindness are instrumental to the success of our society.
“I think community is the key to success in our society,” Cowles said, “and so I try to create community as best that I can within McCallum so that they then take it and do other things with it. I had a PAL, who’s now a social worker. She says that she uses some of the things, that sense of community, that she learned in PALS, and so that’s kind of what I’m trying to get them to recognize, is it can be an element of change in the greater society, and so you create more of those people, then hopefully we progress a little bit.”
The PALS program has been creating lasting memories for PALS and PALees across AISD for years, Wangrin’s experience is proof of that larger truth.
“There were so many memorable moments of PALS,” Wangrin said. “Some of my best memories from McCallum were with PALS. There was so much great energy. I enjoyed visiting with my PALees, hearing what was going on in their lives, and doing fun activities together. I made some great friends through PALS while also strengthening a lot of my existing friendships.”
