Wildcat Youth Mentors promote success one hour atLifeWise Community Press Releases: Sunday, November 27, 2005
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BARRINGTON — She would shout across the classroom whenever she felt things were not going her way. Four weeks later, her outbursts ended — Brooke is now calm. She knew she counted. She was shown respect and had a new friend whom she trusted, someone who would listen to her.
The above reflects the successful "Power of Presence." This consistent and dedicated one-on-one attention provided by mentors to teen mentees is absolutely the best medicine known. Wildcat Youth Mentors (University of New Hampshire collegians) are having this affect on "Students of Promise" at local schools surrounding the Durham campus: Barrington Middle School, Dover Children's Home, Epping High, Newmarket Jr. High, Oyster River High and Seymour Osman Community Center. LAURA NORQUIST, UNH Wildcat Youth Mentor Since the fall of 2003, LifeWise Community Projects, Inc., a private nonprofit, hidden in the woodlands of Barrington, has found that their experiment, starting with a single school, is working very well. So well in fact, those six six schools now engage 40 Wildcat Youth Mentors (WYM). Positioning young teens to graduate from high school is the mission of WYM. It is no coincidence that employers, landlords and community organizations seek to engage WYM members whenever they hear of their references, "committed and reliable." "Everyone of the Wildcat Youth Mentors would make my team," says Bruce A. Montville EE, president of LifeWise. "They make me proud because they are dedicated and you can always count on them." Mentoring makes a real difference. Mentoring by WYM is a powerful supplement, which aids in the fulfillment of a young person's needs. Mentors act in many different roles, providing young people with support, advice, counseling, referrals, motivation, guidance, coaching, friendship, reinforcement and constructive examples. She made the cheerleading team. Anne just had to be a cheerleader — but didn't have a clue. What she did have was a goal. With that goal, WYM member, Jackie took Anne to gym every week and practiced basic moves and chants to taped cheerleading routines. Anne soon found her groove and the school coach immediately brought her on to the team According to the National Mentoring Partnership at http://www.mentoring.org/, mentored teens are 46 percent less likely to get into drugs, 59 percent more likely to earn better grades and percent more likely to set higher goals. Mentored students are shown to be 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol, 53 percent less likely to skip school, and 33 percent less likely to hit someone. The power of presence — knowing that there is someone who cares, is a strong motivator for the mentee to begin to respect and care for himself or herself. Members of WYM are diverse: Some are engaged by the military (one just having been deployed to the Katrina disaster), manage residence halls, work various part-time jobs, belong to fraternities and sororities, live on campus or commute and have families. While some are UNH alumni, most are seeking four-year degrees, others are graduate students and there are occasional PhD candidates. Varsity teams and various student organizations are also represented. WYM members are continually involved one-hour a week with teens in the creation and maintenance of a positive school-based mentoring relationship, such as trust, self-esteem, time and respect. Helping a teen set and pursue goals proves to be very effective in building self-confidence. Much is accomplished in the consistency of one-hour a week, from October through May. For more information contact Bruce A. Montville EE, program manager and UNH alumnus, at bmontvillelifewise-nh.org at 929-0832 or visit http://www.lifewise-nh.org/ |
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Bruce A. Montville EE
President & CEO
President & CEO