Mentoring

Be a mentor. Change a life.

When God says that He is a "father to the fatherless" (Psalm 68:5), He is not referencing an ethereal spirit floating around intangibly. God is a "father to the fatherless" through His agents of love - the body of Christ - as He raises up surrogate parents to those in need.

Statistics change to successes when mentors provide the guidance, nurture and commitment that is missing in a child's life:

youth are five times more likely to graduate if they have a meaningful relationship with an adult
46% are less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs
27% are less likely to start drinking, and
52% are less likely than their peers to skip school

The National Church Adopt a School Initiative seeks to train church leaders and volunteers around our nation using our Starting a School-Based Mentoring Program. Through this course, you will learn proper preparation, orientation, screening, management, and evaluation of a mentor program.

A sample mentor program may include:

Group mentoring: Involves one adult mentor forming a relationship with a group of up to four young people. The mentor assumes the role of leader and makes a commitment to meet regularly with the group over the course of one school year.

Team mentoring: Involves several adults working with small groups of young people, with an adult-to-youth ratio no greater than one to four.

School-based mentoring objectives:

To place caring, competent and consistent adults as mentors in public schools
To have mentees demonstrate an increase in pro-social skills or competencies that protect them from a wide range of risk-taking behaviors that lead to school dropout, substance use/abuse, violence/gang activity, and out-of-wedlock pregnancy
To have mentees demonstrate an increase in reading, math and/or writing and a stronger commitment to school thus reducing academic failure and school drop-out rates
To have mentees master new skills and develop a sense of belonging and bonding among peers, family and community thus reducing anti-social behavior and alienation within their environments