Island Mentoring Program Seeking Adult Volunteers

The Aquidneck Island Mentoring Program (AIM) is looking for adults to volunteer one hour per week to mentor local students. The program matches volunteers with students in during the school year.

Mentor Program Coordinator Nicole Lewis took to the podium during last Tuesday night’s school committee meeting to address the members and community on the benefits of the program.

Students who have mentors, even those who spend just one hour a week together, have improved chances of graduating, going to college, avoiding arrest, participating in community service and not relying on public assistance, Lewis said.

“We can’t teach students what they need to learn in the future,” she said. “We can teach them to have a life-long learning attitude. . .If they’re happy to be at school they will be happy to be learning.”

Lewis said the program’s goal is to increase their numbers by at least ten percent in the coming year.  Last year the program started with 28 members and ended with 43.

Several mentors were lost due to the hard-hitting economy, she said.

School committee member Sandra J. Flowers shared her insights regarding her past experiences as a mentor, recalling how her students grew to look forward to and count on her visits each week. If she had to miss a day, she would have to call ahead and make sure to reschedule a time to spend with her student, she said. 

School Committee Chair Patrick Kelley said student participation in the mentoring program may be a partial remedy to chronic absenteeism in Newport public schools.

For more information or to sign up to be a mentor call (401)-732-7700 or visit the  Rhode Island Mentoring Partnership’s website. Nicole Lewis can be reached at nlewis@mentorRI.org. AIM is part of a national mentoring partnership.