Mentorship Programs are...
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.