Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 6, 2000 Page: 26
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the mentors, counselor and school ad-
ministration are a must for the pro-
gram to be a success.
It is also important to seek input from
members of the program and provide
support when needed for re-matches,
as well as encouragement and affir-
mation of a job well done. There must
be ongoing evaluation to find out what
the mentors need to make their job
easier and efforts should be made to
accommodate those needs.
It is also important to recognize those
who have shared their time and en-
ergy to help our students. This can be
done by providing on-going training
and development, networking with the
organizations that participate, annual
recognition and appreciation events,
and newsletters. At the end of the year
it is imperative to provide a time of
sharing and closure for the participant,
mentor, and staff. This can be done
by having a mentor recognition event
where parents, students, teacher and
mentors meet to visit and enjoy food
and fun together. These kinds of ac-
tivities encourage mentors to remain
in the program as well as encourag-
ing others to join.
Expanding the Program
The program will continue to grow as
long as mentors understand their im-
portance to the program and feel they
are supported by the faculty, parents,
and community. Due to positive feed-
back and community support during
the fall 1999 semester, the Bowie
Buddy Mentor Program will include
additional volunteers from Northside
Baptist Church and the Texas Bank.
We strive to continually encourage
and praise our mentors and encour-
age others to join us. It is important
to maintain enthusiasm in the pro-
gram. Mentors should always know
they are important to both the schooland the students.
Pitfalls
One of the greatest pitfalls experi-
enced is procrastination in getting
volunteers trained and matched with
students. If too much time expires
between sign up and training, the vol-
unteer may find other things to do. It
is of utmost importance to act quickly
in getting the mentor and student
matched as quickly as possible. An-
other problem can be communication.
There has to be positive on-going
communication between the school
and the mentors. Lack of feedback to
mentors is another area that will cause
dropout and uncertainty within the
program. Teacher input, acceptance
and participation is also very impor-
tant to the mentors. It is important to
prepare the teaching staff so they sup-
port the mentors and the program. The
principal has an important role in
making mentors feel accepted and
welcome on the school campus. It is
important for the teacher to stay in-
formed and to keep the mentor in-
formed. The mentors must have on-
going encouragement and assurance
of a job well done. The mentors can
help students reach their goals and
may be the most effective instrument
of change for the students.
Conclusion
Our world is becoming more compli-
cated. Choices multiply geometrically
on what seems a daily basis. Some-
times, after watching the nightly news,
we want to shut the world out and
refuse to acknowledge the troubled
times. However, we cannot ignore the
many poor, underprivileged, and
troubled youth. We can make welfare
illegal, try to legislate it away, but
poverty and trouble will still be there.
One proven way to turn the tide is
through involvement in a mentoring
program. A solid program can provide
children with the foundations for de-cision-making that will be required of
them by stabilizing their lives with
support and nurturing. A mentor helps
kids set high goals and expectations
for themselves which in turn reduces
crime, dependency and self-defeating
choices. It is important, now more
than ever before, for schools and their
communities to get involved in men-
toring. If you save just one child in
your community, just one, you touch
the lives of a hundred others that child
will come in contact with in his/her
lifetime. Imagine if we could help
them all. ESP
REFERENCES
The National Mentoring Working Group,
convened by United Way of America
and One to One. The National Men-
toring Partnership. (1991). [On-Line]
http://www.mentoring.org
The Annie E. Casey Foundation [On-
Line] http://www.aecf.org
A solid program can
provide children with
the foundations for
decision-making that
will be required of
them by stabilizing
their lives with support
and nurturing.26
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Tarleton State University. Effective Schools Project. Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 6, 2000, periodical, 2000; Stephenville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth201683/m1/27/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.