CARDINAL OPPORTUNITIES: MENTORS
A mentor is an adult interested in helping a high school student prepare for post-secondary education or a career. A mentor is matched with a student and may provide many forms of support, some of which are listed below.
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Advice and support in decision-making
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Encouraging responsibility for decisions
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Academic and intellectual direction
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Career advice and experience
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Friendship, understanding, and caring; a listening ear
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Encouragement and praise
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Confidence building
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What does a mentor do?
A mentor meets at least once monthly with the student and stays in touch through phone calls and notes. The pair may go to events, museums, movies, or out to eat to talk about what is happening in the student’s life and what concerns he or she may have. The mentor may suggest and help arrange opportunities to learn about careers or educational opportunities.
PARENTS: A mentor does not take the place of a parent but acts as an additional adult whose experience can benefit the student in making good decisions. Students may only participate with the permission and cooperation of a parent or guardian.
BENEFITS: Mentors have the opportunity to gain satisfaction from helping someone else attain their goals. They also are contributing to the community and can have some fun with other volunteer mentors and students.
DESCRIPTION: Mentors are adults who have an interest in connecting generations, as well as a respect for young people. They have a willingness to get involved in someone else’s life. Provide support, counsel, friendship, reinforcement and constructive examples in order to help a young person achieve. They serve as a positive role model sharing their life experiences to make a difference in a child’s life.
There is no profile of an ideal mentor. Each relationship builds on its own strengths and develops its own characteristics. What may be effective for one mentor and student may be modified to accommodate another.
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