Youth Achievement Mentoring

Dear Joe,

 
Thank you for the opportunity you have provided for working professionals to interact one-on-one as mentors for elementary school children. I have thoroughly enjoyed mentoring these past few months. Spending two hours each week with one student has allowed me to discover "Our Student"(name protection) "OS" learning style and develop a friendship with him. Now that a friendship has emerged, he feels comfortable asking me questions about academic difficulties and has become receptive to our discussions on values and leadership.

 One of the most enjoyable parts of our mentoring sessions involves goal setting for the following week. "OS" academic goals are quickly becoming more challenging as his math and reading skills improve. His personal goals are also expanding as he recognizes the goodness of taking time to help others. We started small with things like helping his mother do the dishes and have progressed to goals such as: “help my siblings with their reading skills,” “do what my parents ask me to do the first time,” and “watch out for the safety of the younger children on the playground”.

Over the few months we have been mentoring, I have noticed that "OS's" confidence has greatly increased. He is better able to stay focused on a difficult problem rather than gravitating toward tasks that he has already mastered. He is also starting to believe that he will go to college someday and is expressing interest in becoming a doctor or an engineer. Seeing this steady improvement in "OS's" performance has been an enriching experience for me. I look forward to seeing him succeed in life and hope that one-day he will be the experienced professional mentoring a struggling young student.

 One other personal benefit from this mentoring experience involves the discussions that the mentors have at the end of each mentoring session. From those sessions I have been able to share techniques that helped me teach "OS" something and I also get to hear about the successful approaches that others are using. I learn something from every session.

Thank you again for your efforts in developing this mentoring program and for inviting me to participate as a mentor. Hopefully, we can expand the program in order to help more students and to ensure that we can follow these students throughout their academic careers.


Jeff Brewer