Published: November 07, 2009 09:22 pm      

Reaching out for youth: Area mentoring groups join forces to help search for more volunteers

Christina Gilkey grinned as she told student Shelby Watson that she has a surprise for him.

She grabbed a Dairy Queen bag and handed it over to the freshman, who pulled out a Reese’s Blizzard.

“That’s your favorite, right?” she asked.

He smiled, said yes and grabbed for the spoon.

In 2007, Gilkey started the mentoring program at Jeffersonville High School, called A.S.S.I.S.T., or Adolescent Success Skills Improvement Support Team. This year, she mentors four students herself and has mentors for 28 others.

However, that’s not enough. She needs at least seven more mentors this year and possibly more than that next year.

So, Gilkey has teamed up with two other mentoring groups in the county to join forces and recruit more volunteers as part of the Clark County Mentoring Collaborative. One of those — the Clarksville Middle School mentoring program — is similar to A.S.S.I.S.T. in that an adult meets with a student during the school day to talk and mentor.

The other — 3, 2, 1 READ — is different. An adult comes in during the school day and reads a new book to an elementary student and gives that book to the student when they are finished.

Leaders of all three say mentoring is needed in this area. Tom Millea, who heads the Clarksville initiative, says mentored youth are 50 percent less likely to skip school, 46 percent less likely to be involved with drugs and they have better relationships with their parents and peers.

Gilkey, a Greater Clark County Schools board member, said helping students successfully complete their first year in high school makes them 86 percent more likely to graduate. Cathy Graninger, who leads 3, 2, 1 READ, which targets first- through third-grade students, said children need to be fluid readers by grade three.

“If they aren’t, there’s a good chance they will struggle forever,” she said. “Those prime years are so important.”But they can’t achieve all those goals if students are left without mentors.

“It’s pretty hard to get lost in the shuffle in a school of more than 2,000,” Gilkey said of JHS. “Teachers don’t have time to mentor. They have to teach ... That’s why we need mentors.”

Millea has been knocking on businesses doors, asking for them to allow employees to mentor on the clock. Gilkey already has a few businesses doing that for her program, including MedVenture Technology, in Jeffersonville, which lets six of its employees, including the chief financial officer and human resources manager, out of the office on company time to mentor.

“I think it’s a wonderful program. It’s just as rewarding for the mentor as it is for the mentee,” said Pam Brown, HR manager with MedVenture. “It’s exciting that maybe something I said may influence her to do better.

“She probably won’t notice this for four or five years, but down the road, maybe she’ll look back and think maybe if I didn’t have that encouragement, I may not have done as well.”

“I look so forward to Wednesdays,” Gilkey said, referring to the one day a week she goes and mentors four students, back-to-back. “It’s just as much as a blessing to me if not more than it is for the students. It feels good to give back.”

Students said they enjoy their one-on-one time with an adult.

“They give us motivation and keep our spirits up, so we get our work done,” Watson said. “It’s also like having another friend. It’s just a lot of fun.”

“[I joined] because, just to get away from my friends for a while and talk to someone different,” said 14-year-old Eryn Rutledge. “It’s fun ... I get to share my feelings, everyday problems, how’s your day and stuff like that.

“We have a lot of stuff in common, too.”

“Just to have somebody to talk to if you need to talk,” 14-year-old Lynette Gilbert said. “It’s cool, because she’s a nice person and we get to talk and eat together.”

Gilkey is urging more adults to step up to the plate to help others.

“The thing that makes this easy is that we get to just have fun and be a friend,” she said. “I don’t have to be a parent or disciplinarian. I’m not an authoritarian. It’s a whole lot more fun this way.”



MENTORING OPTIONS

3, 2, 1 READ

WHAT: Read to an individual first-, second- or third-grade student

WHEN: 30 minutes a week during school hours

WHERE: Various schools throughout Clark County

DETAILS: Three-year commitment asked of volunteers. Books are provided to volunteers to give to the children. For more information, call Cathy Graninger at 812-280-0028.

CLARKSVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL MENTORING

WHAT: Mentoring to middle-school students

WHEN: Two hours a month during school hours

WHERE: Clarksville Middle School

DETAILS: One-year commitment asked of volunteers. For more information, call CMS at 812-282-8235 and ask for Tom Millea.

A.S.S.I.S.T.

WHAT: Work one-on-one with a high school freshman

WHEN: 45 minutes, twice a month during the students’ lunch break

WHERE: Jeffersonville High School

DETAILS: For more information, call Christina Gilkey at 812-989-4798.



MENTOR’S ROLE

• A mentor is a caring, adult friend who devotes time to a young person. Although mentors can fill any number of different roles, all mentors have the same goal in common: To help young people achieve their potential and discover their strengths.

• Mentors should understand they are not meant to replace a parent, guardian or teacher. A mentor is not a disciplinarian or decision maker for a child. Instead, a mentor echoes the positive values and cultural heritage parents and guardians are teaching. A mentor is part of a team of caring adults.

• A mentor’s main purpose is to help a young person define individual goals and find ways to achieve them. Since the expectations of each child will vary, the mentor’s job is to encourage the development of a flexible relationship that responds to both the mentor’s and the young person’s needs.

• By sharing fun activities and exposing a youth to new experiences, a mentor encourages positive choices, promotes high self-esteem, supports academic achievement and introduces the young person to new ideas.

— www.mentoring.org