January is National Mentoring Month, a time to honor those who give their time to someone else, but also to raise awareness about the benefits of mentoring.

Mentors at Riverside Elementary School include: Front row-Kayla Fulks, Linzee Springer and Morgan Kayler; back row-Victoria Neubert, Kendahl Hartley, Alex Cox and Tayler Brouse. (Click on photo to enlarge)

Created in 2002 by the Harvard School of Public Health and Mentor, a national mentoring partnership, the month focuses national attention on the need for mentors, as well as how individuals, businesses, government agencies, schools, faith communities and nonprofit organizations can work together to increase the number of mentors to assure brighter futures for our young people.  “Mentoring has proven to improve grades, improve school attendance, decrease disciplinary referrals in schools, all positive outcomes,” according to studies done by the Harvard School.

Constantine High School currently has 22 high school seniors in a mentoring program.

Students visit Eastside and Riverside Elementary Schools for one class period in the morning.

Mentors at Eastside Elementary School include: Front row-Jordan Schrock, Hayley Sowards, Olivia Brown, Lindsay Taylor, Kylie Smith and Zack Creager; back row-Courtney Tyler, Chandra Shaffer, Trent Bullock, Becca Diaz, Kyle Hobbs and Cody Hiles. (Click on photo to enlarge)

It’s a win-win situation for everyone.  Positive comments include:

• “It’s sure not hard, how hard is it to play games or watch somebody do a craft? Listen to somebody read? It’s a fun 45 minutes.”
• “I think the biggest benefit is the relationship and that kids know that the community cares about them and that someone is willing to spend their time working with them. Mentors just love being able to make a connection with one person, kind of seeing them grow up and seeing if they have any influence on their kid’s life.”

The mentoring program is a high school elective for seniors interested in going into the field of elementary education in college, according to program director Stephanie French.  “The teachers who use our mentors have them target kids who need help with the reading programs and the special needs students. We send mentors to classrooms where there are higher numbers of students,” French said.

Mentors must teach two lesson plans to their assigned class and do two bulletin boards, she added. Teachers fill out an evaluation form on the mentor at the end of the semester, and a letter grade is assigned for their work.

“It’s a great program and everyone benefits,” French added.

Source:  Story and photos contributed by Angie Birdsall.