MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Some seniors at Reeths-Puffer High School have trained for months to be peer facilitators. 

They’re part of the Peer Assistant Leaders Program, or PALS.

“I guess you could call it mentoring,” said Holly Johnsen. “We really work with helping them with their decision-making if they’re struggling with something or they’re facing a challenge. We can kind of help them through it.”

“We’re there to listen,” Reese Tryska added. “Kind of an older sister-like situation where we can just be a person that they can go to.”

They meet with younger students at different schools in the area.

“I really enjoy making a difference and being a good role model to the younger generation because I think that’s one of the bigger things that people should do now … be someone that the younger kids can look up to,” said Ian Cook, another senior at the high school.

To be in the PALS program, students must be recommended by a teacher.  It takes certain qualities to be part of the program.

“I would say the biggest one is empathy,” said teacher Diana Hynde. “Empathy and desire. They have to have empathy to want to help others and the desire to actually follow through and do it.”

“Ever since I was little, I really liked helping people and when I was in elementary school I saw a couple of kids with older PALS and I was like, ‘Wow, that’s really cool.’ So when the opportunity arose, I was like, ‘I want to make a difference,’” Johnsen said.

And they can actually see the difference they make in the lives of the younger students.

“When we did the scheduling this year, none of my old PALS from last year were on the list, so they made improvements to where they didn’t need PALS this year,” Tryska said.