Local Mentoring

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This month was National Mentoring Month and you may have noticed a lot of mentoring programs in the news or highlighting events. This post covers a handful of local programs that I've stumbled across, but is not exhaustive to all of the mentoring opportunities available through other programs and organizations:

• CU One-to-One Mentoring Program
• Girls2Women Mentoring Program (New)
• Boys2Men Mentoring Program
• Illini Mentoring Program

First, CU One-to-One Mentoring, which is the program that has been mentioned quite a bit in local news lately. WCIA had a quick overview of a program in our local school districts that is recruiting mentors right now:

Urbana and Champaign’s school districts are searching for mentors for kids in 3rd thru 7th grades.

The program currently has 625 mentors. Leaders said they hope to reach 700 by the end of the school year. Mentors will be matched one-on-one with students for a year. The program consists of hour-long sessions on school grounds once a week.

Mentors said they’re determined to help kids succeed.

That full article with video segment here. The Daily Illini had more on the University's Facility and Services departments long time collaboration with the program:

A mentoring program for schools in Champaign-Urbana, CU 1-to-1, is starting the year by celebrating National Mentoring Month. The University’s Facilities and Services celebrated 15 years of partnership with CU 1-to-1 on Jan. 15.

CU 1-to-1 is a mentoring program that offers mentors to Champaign-Urbana students in grades 3-12. According to Lauren Smith, community outreach coordinator for Champaign Unit 4 schools, there is no set curriculum for mentoring within the program, unlike other programs.

“It is a relationship-building program,” Smith said. “They’re not doing catch-up work with the students. They’re not doing tutoring. They’re not checking to see if they completed their homework for the day.”

Instead, it’s a holistic program that strives to create a relationship between mentor and mentee, to create trust and confidence and to do day-to-day activities together, such as playing basketball, Smith said. 

More at that full article here. The News-Gazette had similar coverage of that collaboration here.

There are upcoming events this week and next month to learn more and get involved. From CU One to One Mentoring's News and Events page:

Mentor Breakfast
Join us on Tuesday, January 28, 7:15 - 8:30 for Breakfast at Stone Creek Church, 2502 S. Race Street.  Enjoy scones from Common Ground, Bagels from Einstein Bagels, Yogurt, Fruit, Juice and Coffee

What Does it Mean to Mentor?  will be the topic and you will have a chance to discuess what mentoring means to you with fellow mentors.   Bring a friend interested in mentoring.

...

For Prospective Mentors (pick one)
One to One Initial Mentor Training

Thursday, January 30, 2020  6:30 - 8:30 p.m., Urbana Middle School (1201 S. Vine, U.)
...
Wednesday, February 12, 2020  11:30 - 1:30 p.m., Champaign Mellon Building (703 S. New, C.)

More at the that page, including RSVP contact information, here.


More Mentoring Programs:

Girls2Women Mentoring Program is a new program based on the successful local Boys2Men program described below. Their first meeting is tonight at the Urbana Free Library at 6:30pm. Their facebook page with additional information is available here. WAND had coverage last month of their initial vision here:

The program was inspired by the Boyz2Men mentoring program that was created in 2015.  Mentors say there has been a great turn-out for the guys, but they kept being asked why girls weren't included...

She says one thing both groups have in common is a need for space. At this moment, they are providing their services at the Champaign Public Library but are looking for a permanent place to teach the youth. They are also working on fundraisers to help make this space possible.

The program is completely free for girls in 6th to 12th grade. For more information contact girls2womenmentoring@gmail.com

More at the full article here. More coverage at the News-Gazette here.


Boys2Men Mentoring Program has a description on their facebook page:

Founded in 2015, by Devon Turner Sr., the Boyz 2 Men Mentoring Program's mission is to improve the academic achievement, self-esteem, social awareness, and social competence of young males. By providing young men with professional male mentors, Boyz 2 Men will help their mentees to reach their full potential thereby cultivating productive citizens.

Since its creation, Boyz2Men has directly connected with over 100 young men through direct mentoring. Seeing an opportunity to expand their influence and effectiveness, a weekly mentoring group for male students in grades 6th-12th was introduced at the start of the 2018-2019 school year. On average 22 students attend each meeting, with conversations that address common areas of concern and interest for young males. The mentors use this time to discuss racism, conflict resolution, popular news stories, effective means of communication, amongst less serious topics like sports and pop culture. The approach is designed to build lasting trust while also addressing real life challenges for the students.

The News-Gazette also had an overview with Devon Turner Sr. discussing the program a few months ago here.


And finally, the Illini Mentor Program, which I haven't heard much about yet. From it's webpage:

Illini Mentor Program is a registered student organization of the University of Illinois dedicated to fostering meaningful and consistent mentoring relationships between University students and children in the local community with the goal of supporting learning, growth, skill-building, and interracial and cultural understanding.

More at their facebook page and its main University website.