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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. |
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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