United Way of Lake County and HACES Expand Parent Mentor Program

United Way of Lake County and HACES (Hispanic American Community Education and Services) are proud to announce a partnership and collaboration to deliver an expanded Parent Mentor program that puts parents in the classroom to mentor Waukegan students, kindergarten through fifth grade.

Parents are trained as mentors and volunteer in a classroom four times a week for a minimum of 100 hours per semester. Parent Mentors provide direct support to students to improve their math and literacy skills and to provide additional social emotional support. The Parent Mentors also have weekly training on financial literacy, computer skills, leadership, and more. They help to fill the equity gap by volunteering in schools and creating positive change through parent engagement. The program has English and Spanish-speaking mentors with the goal to serve more than 600 students this school year in five Waukegan elementary schools, including Carman-Buckner, Glen Flora, Glenwood, North and Lyon Magnet.

“After a successful first year, it became clear that there was a need for even more parental involvement,” said Maria-Elena Jonas, Founder and Executive Director of HACES. “The support United Way provides will allow us to serve many more students, helping us make an even bigger impact in the community.”

“United Way of Lake County is uniquely capable of uniting resources to serve the community,” said Gale Graves, Vice-President of Community Impact at United Way. “We are looking forward to working with HACES and parents to support Waukegan students achieve even greater success.”

Recruitment is currently underway for parents to serve in the classroom for two hours per day in their child’s school. The program is open to all parents who are looking to learn valuable life skills and make a positive impact on their child’s school and community. Parent Mentors work one-on-one or in small groups with students who need extra support in the classroom. They are provided with the necessary training, offered weekly workshops on professional development skills in academic instruction and leadership, and compensated with a modest stipend.

For more information, visit LIVEUNITEDlakecounty.org/parentmentors or www.haces.org/education.