The importance of mentoring

Did you know that January is National Mentoring Month across the United States?

At the Boys & Girls Club, at the heart of what we do is mentor youth and create a safe, positive place with supportive adult role models to create hope and opportunity for youth. At the Club, a supportive adult relationship is framed in many ways, through many programs that we have at the Club. It may be informal in the day to day operations of Club with a teacher playing a game of dodge ball with you, getting you a band aid when you are hurt or helping you with your math homework when it seems impossible. It can also mean youth working with a teacher in our small group programs that focus on a variety of topics, including self-esteem, making healthy life choices: mind, body and soul or learning to persevere and learning in STEM programs. Lastly, it could mean participating in our one-on-one mentorship program, where youth are paired up with a teacher and they get together a minimum of once a week at the Club to talk about what is happening in their lives, do projects together and of course, have fun!

Did you know that with a mentor, at-risk youth are:

o 52% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school

o 55% more likely to be enrolled in college

o 46% less likely than their peers to start using drugs

o 81% more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities

o 78% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities

o 130% more than twice as likely to say that they hold a leadership position in a club or sports team

Check out this video from https://youtu.be/kCNHCkgKqHc and think about who mentored you, how did it help you be where you are today and consider volunteering or mentoring a youth at the Boys & Girls Club or in your community. BE Great!

Vanessa Merhib