Mentorship

All about relationships between a young person and an adult.

• These relationships are founded on an atmosphere of trust.
• These relationships lead to open conversations where your mentee can talk without being judged and the mentor listens.
• These relationships are meaningful and occur consistently.

An avenue to connect with mentees to help them make sense of their world.

• This requires the mentee to think about and consider the mentee's social context.
• This requires time and opportunity to allow the connection to be meaningful.
• This requires patience as purposeful connections with young people can be difficult.

An avenue to unite around issues of social justice.

• A place to critically think about and consider who the young person is in the context of the world around them.
• A place to engage with issues that are relevant to the young person.
• A place to challenge social norms and overcome societal barriers.

An opportunity to change lives by caring about and supporting a young person.

• An opportunity for conversations about school and its challenges.
• An opportunity to support mentees through their schooling experiences and life choices.

Mentorship Programs are not...

Programs for solely "at risk" youth.

• The programs should include children with a variety of social and academic differences.

An opportunity to impose "the right" perspective on young people.

• This is an opportunity to share, advise and encourage young people to see their choices from multiple vantage points.

An opportunity for students to get out of class and/or only engage in fun activities.

• While fun activities are important in relationship building and children should enjoy these experiences, it is a balance between fun, work and critical activities which sets the stage for successful and healthy mentees.