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Covington Partners seeking to pair caring adults with students for Mentoring Program that changes lives


By Covington Partners

January marks the 21st annual National Mentoring Month, a campaign aimed at expanding quality mentoring opportunities to connect more of our community’s young people with caring adults.

The Covington Partners Mentoring Program is celebrating the power of mentoring relationships through the #MentoringAmplifies campaign.

While this year has definitely had its challenges, it has also underscored the importance of mentor/mentee relationships and the value they bring to the entire community. Partners’ key message is to raise awareness of the invaluable and rewarding contribution that mentoring makes not only in our schools, but to the community as well.

Mentoring is linked to improved academic, social, and economic prospects for youth, which ultimately strengthens our community. Research has shown that when matched through a quality mentoring program, mentors can play a powerful role in providing young people with the tools to make responsible decisions, stay focused and engaged in school, and reduce or avoid risky behavior like skipping school, drug use and other negative activities.

For example, in a national report called The Mentoring Effect, young people who were at-risk for not completing high school but who had a mentor were 55% more likely to be enrolled in college than those who did not have a mentor.

They were also were

• 81% more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities.

• 78% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities.

• More than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team.
 
This same report found that one in three young people in our country will grow up without a mentor. Today, in our community there are numerous young people who could benefit from having a mentor.

Mentoring relationships are basic human connections, says Covington Partners, that let a young person know that they matter, and mentors frequently report back that their relationships make their mentees feel like someone is there to help them make the right choices in life.

Change multiplies each time someone is inspired by new possibilities. It starts with someone committing to one act of support, which motivates someone else to advocate for progress. It then builds, from one connection to the next, until entire communities are transformed. That is the power of mentoring — both mentor and mentee grow together, seeing the world through each other’s eyes.

Covington Partners is committed to equipping the youth of Covington with mentoring relationships and growth opportunities. Mentoring amplifies change, one relationship at a time.

Since its inception, the Covington Partners Mentoring Program has had over 1200 (unduplicated) caring adults witness firsthand the meaning behind #MentorOneStudentChangeTwoLives. Data shows that these positive relationships are highly impactful and students with mentors increase their school attendance, behavior, and academic achievement.

But then what? We asked ourselves: How does mentoring amplify right here in Covington? As we reflected on the growth of the mentoring movement, we realized that while the Covington Partners Mentoring Program is successful at school and in the community, it is time to amplify mentoring into the local workforce and among student peers. Through work-based mentoring, students are matched one-to-one with an adult professional in a chosen field of interest to explore a career, career interests, and related workplace and career development issues.

We recognize the need to continue to recruit new mentors, to support and expand our current mentoring matches and programs, as well as offer opportunities to thank the mentors who have positively impacted the lives of so many youth in Covington. Mentoring does in fact, amplify in long-lasting, powerful ways.

If you are interested in becoming a Mentor, sign up here.


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