The Effects of Mentoring
The time you invest in mentoring boosts the probability that your mentee will like school more, make better choices, and succeed later in life. If the Josh Shipp video Grand Area Mentoring shared via email didn’t fully communicate the power of a single caring adult, perhaps some data will.
- While at-risk kids are often expected to do worse academically over time, 60% of mentored youth in Grand County earn better grades.
- Match length is an indicator of program and relationship quality. While most school-based matches across the country last about six months, Grand Area Mentoring matches last 27 months, – more than 400% longer. Check the box on reverse to celebrate matches that have lasted more than a year! We can’t wait until all of Grand Area Mentoring’s new matches are on this list too!
- While at-risk students often struggle with escalating behavior issues over time, last year 72% of mentees earned fewer office referrals than during the previous year. 91% of teachers surveyed agreed that mentored youth in Grand County are less disruptive in class.
- School-based mentoring encourages school attachment. We have watched a student (who originally missed over 20 days of school per trimester) work on an incentive plan with her mentor to improve her attendance to nearly perfect. 95% of teachers surveyed agreed that mentored youth in Grand County miss less school, and many kids say things like: “I didn’t like school. Now I look forward to mentoring and come to school every day.”
What’s the magic element? What makes mentoring so powerful?
Perhaps we can allow another group of data points to answer this question. When surveyed at the end of the year, parents, teachers, and mentors agree on which student characteristic seems to be most affected – HAPPINESS.
Improved mental health is the real reason for the positive effects of mentoring. To you, the mentor, it may feel trivial to spend a fun hour talking, playing, and doing art at school. But to a child who needs more one-on-one time with a caring adult, this hour is…
