Vision/Background

Vision Statement: 

Youth thriving with support from a caring mentor who notices them and their potential.

Background:

The National Mentoring Partnership and Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Youth Outcome Initiative report that mentoring has a positive impact on young people, especially at-risk youth, helping them succeed in school, work, and life. 

Location

Social Circle City Schools A.I.M.Y. (All In Mentoring Youth) Program will be hosted at all district schools. Mentor meetings typically occur during the school day or after school hours and may include tutoring, career exploration, life skills development, sports, games, and/or attendance at cultural events or other forms of entertainment.

School operation hours will be provided during the Mentor training session.

Benefits Of Mentoring

Mentoring is often one component of a program that includes other elements, such as tutoring, life skills training, and coaching. The supportive, healthy relationships mentors and mentees form are both immediate and long-term and contribute to many benefits for mentors and mentees.

Benefits for youth:

• Increased high school graduation rates

• Lower high school dropout rates

• Healthier relationships and lifestyle choices

• Better attitude about school

• Higher college enrollment rates and higher educational aspirations

• Enhanced self-esteem and self-confidence

• Improved behavior, both at home and at school

• Stronger relationships with parents, teachers, and peers

• Improved interpersonal skills

Benefits for mentors:

• A sense of accomplishment

• Creation of networks of volunteers

• Insight into childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood

• Increased patience and improved supervisory skills 

Mentoring can help youth through challenging life transitions, including stressful changes at home or the transition to adulthood. Close, healthy, supportive mentor-mentee relationships that last for a significant portion of time (i.e., more than one year) are central to success.

How Do I Become a Mentor?

A.I.M.Y. screens, trains, and selectively matches mentors with children. We consider compatibility, complementary personalities, and proximity. A.I.M.Y. Mentors are professionally supported throughout. The goal is to help youth build self-esteem, confidence, and coping skills that encourage healthy choices and inspire them to realize their goals and dreams. Research shows that a key difference between a youth who succeeds as they age and one who does not is their connection to a stable, caring person.

Even a simple act, like spending quality time with a child, can have profound, lasting effects. Social Circle City Schools simply wants to provide more deserving children the chance to know this level of success. Many opportunities exist to open up a student’s world. The wave of need never subsides. We need mentors for both girls and boys. 

If you're interested in stepping in and stepping up to mentor a child, complete the mentor application.  

If you have questions, contact Crystal Sanford by email at: crystal.sanford@socialcircleschools.org