Guidelines for Mentors

Overview

Thank you for your willingness to be a mentor with the Concord-Carlisle Community Connections program. The goal of our program is to give students an opportunity to learn directly from businesspeople and professionals like yourself who have valuable life experience and life lessons to share. We hope our students gain an appreciation of some of the difficulties and challenges, as well as the joys and benefits, of business and professional life. We also want the students to learn about the importance of good interpersonal skills, teamwork and collaboration, networking, problem-solving skills, and recognizing human differences in the workplace. We expect that this intergenerational exchange of ideas will be valuable to students as they move on to higher education and then to the business and professional arena.

As a mentor, you will be asked to talk about how your organization is unique; how you strive to distinguish your business or professional organization from others in the same field; how your products or services provide useful business solutions to your customers; and how your business aims to be a good “corporate citizen” in contributing to the betterment of the broader community.

[Note that the objective of the program is not to have students become proficient in all the ins and outs of running a business or other organization in your particular “industry” or field, past or present.]

Mentoring a CCHS student is a gift to our students and our community, and is vital to the success of this new program. Your professional and life experiences will be helpful in helping our students gain a better appreciation for the world outside the classroom, and the importance of perseverance, determination, and personal effort in achieving personal and business goals. We greatly appreciate your generosity in giving your time, effort, and willingness to share your experiences with these young people at this important time of their lives.

If you have any questions or concerns at any time during the program, please contact Steve Wells, Faculty Coordinator (email: swells@concordcarlisle.org or phone: (978) 318-1400 x7951).

Logistics

The program asks for a commitment of 8-10 hours of meeting time with your student, preferably in 4 or 5 sessions of 1½ – 2 hours each. For many students, the best time will be from 3:00-5:00 on school days; however, feel free to arrange a different time with your student if your joint schedules allow.

Your student may meet with you during the school day if s/he has multiple back-to-back free periods that allow for a full 60-90 minute session (plus travel time). Students are not permitted to miss class to attend meetings.

If possible, meeting on a consistent day of the week and spacing meetings throughout the semester is preferable to cramming several meetings in before the end of the program. All meetings should occur before the first week in May. We plan to hold a wrap-up session in early May.

If you plan to be away on vacation or business during the course of the program, please plan your meetings accordingly.

Use the Mentor/Student Introduction and Scheduling Form in your first meeting to schedule and confirm your meetings over the course of the semester.

Mentoring sessions will have the greatest impact if they can be held at your place of business. If you are retired, a meeting place at CCHS will be available to you. Please contact Steve Wells, Program Coordinator (email swells@concordcarlisle.org or call (978) 318-1400 x7951) to arrange for a meeting room. Other locations throughout Concord are also available for you to meet, such as the Concord Public Library, Concord Public Safety conference rooms, and others.

Session Guidelines

We have created a list of Possible Discussion Topics that you can use to guide you in developing a mentor/student dialogue. You must cover the questions listed for the first session (“Introductions and getting to know one another”), however, you are not required to use the suggested list for the rest of the sessions. Students will also receive a Suggested Question Outline to stimulate their curiosity and imagination. We want to ensure that each student actively participates in these discussions; our goal is to constructively engage students in conversation with adults and professionals.

If you work closely with other people, we encourage you to invite them to participate in the discussions.

Students will be permitted to take notes during sessions. Students must ask your permission if they wish to audiotape or videotape the sessions.

At the end of each session, we recommend that you and your student briefly review the discussion to identify any issues or discussion points that need clarification or further discussion at the next meeting.

Students will be granted academic credit for participating in this program. Therefore, after the last mentoring session, please fill out the Student Evaluation Worksheet to verify their attendance and total hours completed. Your comments and an overall (largely subjective) rating of student performance would be helpful as well.

As noted above, we plan to have a final wrap-up event for all program participants after the final week of student/mentor meetings. At this event, all students and mentors will have an opportunity to talk about their experiences and what they have learned from this intergenerational exchange of ideas. We will also ask mentors and students to fill out a Program Evaluation Form at that time, so that we can continue to enhance and improve the mentorship program for next year. This form will be available on the website later in the semester.

CORI

Mass. General Laws and CCHS/CPS policy require that any adult interacting with students must undergo a CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) background review, which must be completed at least one week before the first meeting with your student. This process takes about five minutes. For those mentors who completed a CORI during a previous year, that CORI is effective for three years.

To complete the CORI review, bring a copy of your driver’s license to the main office of Concord-Carlisle High School, weekdays from 8–3. You may also call Adrienne Dunne at (978) 318-1400 to request an appointment. Explain that you are a mentor for the Community Connections program.