Can mentoring programs help close the high school graduation rate achievement gap? Minnesota ranks at or near the bottom in graduation rates for Latino, American Indian and black students.

St. Paul high school teacher Jan Mandell joins The Daily Circuit on Tuesday, Feb. 19 to talk about preparing minority students for higher education through mentoring programs. Mandell has taught for 34 years and now runs the District Arts Literacy program. She's currently creating a play with her students on ways to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline.

Also on the program: Horace Hall, associate professor of educational policy studies and research at DePaul University. He is the author of two books: Mentoring Young Men of Color: Meeting the Needs of African American and Latino Students and Understanding Teenage Girls: Culture, Identity and Schooling. G'Alexander Berry, a St. Paul Central High graduate and current student at Metro State University, will also join the discussion. He's been mentoring in St. Paul Public Schools for more than two years.

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