Celebrate National Mentoring Month By Becoming a Mentor

GCPS press release

January marks the celebration of the 14th annual National Mentoring Month.

Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) Community-Based Mentoring is participating in this celebration which focuses on expanding quality mentoring opportunities to connect more of our community’s young people with caring adults by hosting a Volunteer Mentor Training Session on Thursday, January 15, at 6:30 pm at 52 Gwinnett Drive in Lawrenceville.

“Research and the experiences of young people who are connected to a mentor indicate the effect of mentoring is powerful,” says James Rayford, director of GCPS’ Community-Based Mentoring Program. “Mentoring is linked to improved academic, social, and economic prospects for young people, and that ultimately strengthens our community.”

Research has shown that when matched through a quality mentoring program, mentors can play a powerful role in providing young people with tools to make responsible decisions, stay focused and engaged in school, and reduce or avoid risky behaviors like skipping school, drug use, and other negative activities.

Gwinnett’s Community-Based Mentoring Program currently provides mentoring to middle school-aged African-American males, with 130 mentors serving more than 300 students in individual and small group mentoring.

The Community-Based Mentoring 2013-2014 Annual Report shares that 77 percent of the students involved in the program passed all four core academic subjects and 60 percent had less than three discipline incidents.

The Community-Based Mentoring Program is a good fit with the school system’s initiative to engage more community members in the work of schools and in the lives of students.

The message regarding mentoring is simple:

Be Someone Who Matters to Someone Who Matters. Mentoring relationships are basic human connections that let a young person know that they matter, and mentors frequently report back that their relationships make them fell like someone who matters in another person’s life.

For more information about Community-Based Mentoring or about how to become a mentor, call 770-682-8086.