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Mentor Program
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MISSION STATEMENT
Our mission is to
help students struggling academically through one-to-one mentoring,
utilizing volunteers from our community who will provide academic
tutoring and school-to-career counseling.
PHILOSOPHY
We believe that a student’s performance is the most apparent indicator
of the student’s overall well-being. We believe that by investing time
with a struggling teen, we will uncover the cause of their academic
struggle and with assistance, their energies can be redirected toward a
positive and productive future.
Read
our 2008.2009 Wrap-Up Article
or our 2009.2010 Annual
Report
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Congratulations on a successful Pilot Year!
FCHS MENTOR PROGRAM
Many thanks to our
2009
program Oversight Committee Members:
Bill Warnken, Vickie Leonard,
Susie Stewart,
Larry Maioriello and Al Jones
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to cooperate with the mentor and
respect the mentor/mentee relationship and time commitments.
Parents must be
sure their contact information is up to date with both the
mentor as well as the Oversight Committee.
Parents should
become familiar with mentors; mentors will respect the family ideologies or
values as expressed by the parents.
If
possible, parents should cover any expenses incurred by their teen
during mentor/mentee interaction. The Oversight Committee will meet
with all potential parents who will be invited to attend the
orientations and after program review, parents will be asked to sign a
Consent Agreement.
Who
can volunteer to work as a mentor? Any adult from our community willing
to take the time, expend the human resources and travel to meet with
their assigned mentee. Ideally, these volunteers would come from local
churches, secondary education institutions, senior citizen
organizations, local businesses and members from the surrounding community.
Mentee participants will be determined according to demonstrated need,
teacher referral, counselor identification, and parent or individual
request.
Some group activities may include dinner and games on campus, core
curriculum tutelage, career counseling by local experts, job shadowing
and/or courtroom observation.
FCHS
Parents will be delighted to know that time spent mentoring qualifies
toward volunteer hours. |
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In 2009
Fox Creek High School kicked off its first-ever Mentor
Program designed to match one adult volunteer mentor to one
struggling teen mentee.
The program
is a community-based, needs-driven program which matches one
adult volunteer with one struggling teen. Initial meetings
will be held at the high school until teams are comfortable with
each other, then meetings will progress to the community; to areas which
capture the teens interest and in which the teen is most
comfortable expressing himself/herself. These meetings
then are less structured and stimulate free conversation. The mentor serves as
both an adviser, roll model and someone who can help the teen
redirect their energies toward a productive path. Some teens
may merely need additional tutoring and if a mentor is qualified
we are doubly blessed, but we have volunteers (retired teachers,
administrators) who are willing to fulfill this role, and we
will help coordinate the tutelage.
Mentors complete an application and must pass a
multi-state criminal
background check including DMV records as well as sexual
predator and child abuse registries. After clearance, mentor
volunteers will meet with the Oversight Committee, proceeding to
orientation eventually to be matched with a referred teen mentee
at a dinner meeting.
(Click here to view Mentor Job Description,
Application and various other forms.)
Initially,
mentor/mentee matches will be based on gender and interests but
will be subject to a rematch if necessary; however it would be
very unusual to over ride any gender match and would require
special circumstances and consideration. Mentors and mentees
will be required to spend at least one hour per week together.
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The Oversight Committee will maintain constant communications
with all program participants and will provide or arrange for
assistance as needed.
FCHS
is fortunate to have Larry Maioriello (pronounced ‘Mary ello’),
a local practicing attorney from Augusta commit for another year. The committee will
include FCHS teachers serving as Program Coordinators, along with one SIC
Ex-Officio Member, Susie Stewart,
and several professionals from the community.
Rev. John
Hill, D.Min., L.M.F.T. (of the Center for Care & Counseling for
the CSRA, Inc.), a local practicing psychologist, has agreed to
conduct separate orientations for the Mentors and Mentees, and
to remain available for subsequent questions or training
sessions as the need arises.
Elizabeth
Estey, Family Life Educator and Founder/CEO of Life Management
Group, will conduct two seminars for mentees and their families.
PARTICIPANT
ROLES:
What a Mentor is:
A guide, a friend, a listener, a coach
and a responsive adult.
What a
Mentor is not: A savior, a foster parent, a therapist,
a parole officer or a cool peer.
The Mentee
must: Keep appointments, be responsive, take a proactive role
in problem resolution.
More information will be covered by Dr. Hill
during the orientations.
The Parent role is to adhere to the
program guidelines, namely
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No matter what
face you put on, fitting in can be almost impossible for a struggling
teen. High school years can be very tough and bad decisions made for
wrong reasons can have disastrous long-term results.
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165 Shortcut Road, North Augusta, SC 29860 Tel: (803)
613-9435 | Fax: (803) 613-1533
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