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Youth
Participants:
The Hayward Schools Mentoring Project will
match adult, community volunteers with children in the five Hayward
Unified School District (HUSD) middle schools (7th and 8th graders)
to create 150 one-to-one mentoring relationships each project year.
The project will work to continue and support these relationships as
the children enter HUSD high schools. Mentoring will achieve the
objectives of helping children:
- Improve academic performance;
- Improve interpersonal relationships;
- Improve school attendance; and
- Reduce juvenile delinquency and involvement in
gangs.
The low academic performance
seen in Hayward can be
attributed in part to truancy or tardy on three or more consecutive
days. Poor academic performance, truancy, and criminal behavior
are due in large part to a lack of strong positive role models for
the students of Hayward. The students of Hayward are
lacking adult role models able to teach the fundamental life skills
required to succeed academically, socially, and
professionally.
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Project
Overview:
The overall goal of the Hayward Schools Mentoring Project
is to assist students in improving academic
performance, interpersonal relationships, and school attendance. This is
accomplished through pairing students who are struggling
academically, or lack a positive role model, with individuals
from a variety of professional and cultural backgrounds. Mentors
help the students understand that life is a series of choices and
consequences. If students are unhappy with the consequences they
face, the mentors demonstrate that positive choices produce
different consequences. When students understand that choices made
today are the seeds of their future, the result is a renewed
interest in academics because the students see the
importance/relevance of their education to goals they have
established. This is achieved through an emphasis on having fun!
Mentors provide students with new experiences; they take mentees to
the library to assist them with their homework, to nature reserves,
to university and college campuses, to the movies, out to dinner, to
museums and to cultural and sporting events to expose students to
positive environments and opportunities. Mentors and mentees work
together to identify one personal, one academic, and one career
exploration goal for the students. The relationship is then built
around meetings and discussions that help the students to achieve
these goals. The resulting outings and discussions allow for the
role modeling of pro-social norms and behaviors that improve the
interpersonal relationships of the students. As relationships
become stronger, more academic and professional activities, such as
tutoring and job shadowing, are introduced. The respect built, and
close bond fostered, allows for greater student acceptance of the knowledge the mentor has to
offer.What do you
do?
- Mentors share
life experiences,
- Help the youth
make positive choices,
- Go see new
places and things,
- Explore careers
and higher education,
- Set goals for the
future, and have fun!
How does it work?
- Youth and
volunteers are paired in same gender matches for at least one
year,
- spending four to
six hours per month together, outside school and work hours.
- Time spent
together can be focused on schoolwork, going to movies, sporting
events or museums, or simply talking and being a trusted friend.
Without YOU, a youth
will have less of a chance to succeed.
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Please sign up today to work with a Hayward Student -
Click the "Volunteer Now" button to complete an online application.
For the safety of our children, all
volunteer mentors must complete an on-line application and
undergo a background investigation.
CONTACT
Laura Gregg
Phone: (510) 795-6488x187
lgregg@beamentor.org
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