This week, about 15 members of the Lawrence community — from schools Superintendent Rick Doll to former Jayhawk basketball player Wayne Simien — will walk into Free State High School and become a mentor to a male student.

The setup is the brainchild of Keith Jones, Free State assistant principal. With the help of Lawrence Education Achievement Partners (LEAP) — a program operated by the Lawrence Schools Foundation that encourages community partnerships with schools — he established a pilot program for student mentors that could one day spread to all students in other district schools.

Jones said the goal of the arrangement is to teach leadership and professionalism skills and provide them with a chance to learn from others in the community.

Aaron Funk (left), a sophomore, shows his mentor, Ron May, the athletic facilities at Free State High during Funk's guided tour Wednesday.

“Hopefully by gaining some of those skills it’ll transfer over to the classroom,” Jones said.

Jones planned four occasions for the mentors to meet with students at school. They all had a chance to meet with one another in December, and on Wednesday everyone got paired up and will stick to that arrangement the rest of the year, Jones said.

The students, diverse in race and age, showed up at Wednesday’s meeting in spiffy attire, wearing button-down shirts, ties, dress shoes and sweaters. Jones said recruiting for the program began with recommendations from guidance counselors, but “by no means are these kids targeted because their grades are bad.”

Sophomore Zion Bowlin was paired with Arli Lindskog, a rehab technician supervisor at TherapyWorks. Zion said he joined the program to learn how to pursue an occupation in sports medicine.

“Before I joined this group I really didn’t have a plan on what I wanted to do,” he said.

Each student ate lunch with his mentor before leading them on a tour of the building as they got to know each other. Aaron Funk, a sophomore, was paired with Ron May, the Lawrence school district’s director of administrative services. The two talked baseball, classes and May’s job during the hour they were together.

“It’s nice to get to know the kids,” May said. “I think my biggest impact is just being a person from the community that can be there to give them an opportunity to grow.”