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Summertime means many things for many people. For mentors and mentees in school-based mentoring programs it is often a time of 'goodbyes.' Hopefully you were able to connect with your mentee in many ways over the past year, and took time to reflect on all you have learned together and how you both have grown.
If you are a community-based mentor, summer may provide you with more opportunities to spend time with your mentee. Use the summer to strengthen your relationship and experience new things. Plant and tend a garden together, sign up for a reading program at the public library, make popsicles on a hot summer day, or practice swimming. Below, read about a new resource to help your mentee, and you, stay active and healthy over these summer months.
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2010 Impact Survey
If your mentoring program received training or technical assistance from VMP in 2010 we
want to hear from you! Please take our Annual Impact survey to help us assess the quality of our services and identify areas of need. The survey should take approximately 5 minutes to complete. Thanks!
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Services Update
New process for requesting training: We're taking the technology plunge! Starting this fall, VMP will use a brief online survey to schedule your training sessions. Please contact VMP's Program Director as you always have to inquire about setting up a training. In response, you will receive an email with a link to a questionnaire. Enter your program information and preferred training dates and VMP's Program Director will be in touch to plan your training. Thank you for helping us save paper and become more efficient!
New! "Orientation to Mentoring in Middle School" curriculum: This fall, VMP will offer a new mentor training that focuses on mentoring youth who are in middle school. This session covers the fundamentals of being a mentor--the mentor's role, communication skills, and problem solving--but it also looks closely at the characteristics of middle school students and asks mentors to focus on being a positive role model and guide to young people ages 12-14.
Positive Youth Development: This fall, VMP will introduce new elements to our "Orientation to Mentoring Children and Youth" session. These elements include theories of Positive Youth Development and stages of the mentoring relationship. Mentors will be provided with tips and tools to put these ideas into practice with their mentees.
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Invest in Youth Mentoring
Macy's Shop for a Cause
On Saturday, August 27, Macy's will host its 6th
annual Shop For A Cause. Since 2005, Shop For A Cause has raised over $38 million for charities across the country. This year, VMP will join Shop For A Cause to generate support for our primary services: training mentors and providing technical assistance to programs. You can invest in mentoring by purchasing your $5.00 ticket good at any Macy's store which will provide you with 25% off on purchases in-store and online. You will also be eligible to win a $500 gift card--no purchase required.
For tickets, please go to our website, contact us at (804) 828-1536 OR request tickets through email at vmpmentor@gmail.com. Be sure to include the following information: name, address, city, state, zip code, phone and email address. The tickets will be mailed to you by mid-August. Read more about Shop For A Cause and find a Macy's store near you. To help us get the word out, please print our flyer.
Get creative! Collaborate on a grant. VMP welcomes opportunities to discuss how your organization can be strengthened through the development of grants. We can co-author a grant or if we have a history of working with your organization, can provide you with a letter of support to endorse your efforts. If you have questions about grant collaboration, please contact Rick Golembeski at golembeskirm@vcu.edu.
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MENTOR News & Advocacy Update:
SafetyNet:
From 2003-2010, many states enjoyed the availability of a federally-funded background check program called SafetyNET. SafetyNET was available to mentoring programs and was managed by MENTOR. As of March 31, 2011, SafetyNET is no longer in operation. MENTOR & VMP are advocating for legislation such as the Child Protection Improvements Act (CPIA) which would create a streamlined system to allow youth-serving organizations access to nationwide FBI fingerprint searches in a timely and affordable manner as part of the background check done on potential volunteers.
For suggestions on how to conduct background checks in the interim, download VMP's Guide to Securing Background Checks.
Click here for more information about or to become involved in MENTOR's advocacy efforts. |
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The Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring
In early 2011, MENTOR and The University of Massachusetts Boston formed the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring. This center is guided by three goals:
1. Help train the next generation of youth mentoring researchers
2. Refine, advance, and create support tools to improve the practice of youth mentoring;
3. Convene leaders to capitalize on research findings and expand the field's intellectual reach
VMP encourages you to stay tuned to the work of researchers like Dr. Jean Rhodes, through MENTOR's website and this new center. Research and studies on mentoring helps all of us continually improve our efforts to provide quality mentoring relationships to the children and youth in our communities who are most in need.
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