Mentoring Benefits
Why Mentor?
It is human nature to protect and provide
for those we hold most precious, and that's especially true when it comes to children. Nevertheless, helping young people fulfill
their potential and teaching them to be responsible, successful adults have become enormous challenges. In today's world, kids
face a host of negative influences unknown by previous generations. Unfortunately, the safety net is fragile for many children,
and without intervention, community support, and guidance they face daunting obstacles. Kettle Kinship Youth Mentorship Programs
provide that ‘safety net’ or support system for our communities’ children.
“It takes a village to raise a child.”
Kettle Kinships’
specific focus:
Fostering Healthy Inter-generational Mentoring Relationships
Mentoring is a proven, powerful tool that can play a significant role in helping youth face the many unique issues and barriers
placed before them. Through mentoring, mentees benefit from gaining broadened perspectives, development of particular strategies
and attitudes, having a support system, and networking contacts. Mentoring provides significant benefits to mentors as well.
Mentoring offers young people sustained relationships with caring adults who serve as positive role models. Mentors may be an individual, a couple, or family who enjoy spending time with youth. Mentors are screened, interviewed, and go through mentor training prior to being matched with a child.
Kettle Kinship’s Mentoring Opportunities and potential effects:
- Nurtures young people's skills and capacities, including: social skills, vocational interests,
and civic responsibility
- Helps protect youth from violence and other dangerous or negative influences
- Provides opportunities for children and youth to contribute
to their communities and society
- Gives mentees and mentors a sense of belonging in the community
- Provides support and friendship through
a non-family member adult
- Creates environments that promote the positive and healthy development of all youth
- Promotes both the general
well-being of all young people and positive behavior, while concurrently preventing negative behaviors
- Establishes a sense of belonging
and connectedness among communities’ youth and adults (closing the generational gap)
- Strengthens communities served
- Reduces rural isolation
Academic/School Based Tutoring/Mentoring for Educational Enhancement
Program prepares young people for higher education or
the workplace, equipping them to be responsible citizens. Benefits of this program category:
- Enrich academic performance and
educational commitment
- Enrich young people's knowledge and understanding of their culture and the cultures of those around them
- Provide
a foundation and/or support in basic skills, such as reading, writing, mathematics, science, technology and communication
- Enhance
thinking skills, such as creativity, decision-making, problem-solving and reasoning
- Increases opportunities for youths to understand
and use technology, such as computers and the Internet
- Gives mentees and mentors a sense of belonging in the community
- Provides support
and friendship through a non-family member adult
- Promotes both the general well-being of all young people and positive behavior, while
concurrently preventing negative behaviors
- Establishes a sense of belonging and connectedness among communities’ youth and adults
(closing the generational gap)
- Strengthens communities served
- Reduces rural isolation
Skill-based Mentoring
Program prepares young
adults for higher education, life-skills, or the workplace equipping them to be responsible citizens. Benefits of this program
category:
- Provides support in areas of interest and/or need
- Provides a foundation and/or support in basic life skills, such as learning
about skill- based trades, parenting skills, and overcoming barriers, for personal development
- Enriches job performance, interest
and commitment
- Increases self confidence
- Offers opportunities to participate with a ‘teamwork’ approach
- Enhance thinking skills, such
as creativity, decision-making, problem-solving and reasoning
- Augments opportunities for young adults to understand the business world
and take part in it
- Guides young adults in skill based trade/career making decisions
- Enrich young people's knowledge and understanding
of their culture and the cultures of those around them
- Helps develop marketable skills through a mentoring relationship
- Offers orientation,
mentoring, and exposure of young adults to the business arena
- Gives mentees a sense of belonging in the community
- Provides support
and friendship through a non-family member adult
- Promotes both the general well-being of all young people and positive behavior, while
concurrently preventing negative behaviors
- Establishes a sense of belonging and connectedness among communities youth and adults (closing
the generational gap)
- Strengthens communities served
- Reduces rural isolation
Financial Return on Investment in Youth Mentoring Programs
Social Return on Investment in Youth Mentoring Programs
Based on a study of
mentoring programs in Minnesota, it is clear that Mentoring programs produce some or all of the following direct benefits whose values
can be quantified:
· Improved school attendance and performance – leading to increased
graduation rates, increased post-secondary education, and higher lifetime earnings
· Reduced truancy- resulting in reduced school costs and, ultimately, reduced high school dropouts
· Improved health outcomes – including reductions in teen pregnancy, reduced or delayed use of tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drugs
· Reduced juvenile crime (both violence and property crimes) – saving victim costs, court costs, and costly treatment of juvenile offenders
Benefits
for Mentors:
- You can gain emotionally, socially, and even professionally by becoming a mentor!
- Tutoring and Mentoring is a great way
to meet peers who have the same values that you do.
- Mentoring is an opportunity to directly shape America’s tomorrow.
- Tutoring and Mentoring
help you to develop communication and interpersonal skills that are great assets to any professional environment (as well as resume
building).
- Tutoring/Mentoring is your direct contribution to the call for a more socially responsible America!
- Giving your time to
impact your society will set you apart from your colleagues and boost your company, club, business or organization’s reputation and
improve public relations!
Mentoring brings policy to practice. It is a hands-on opportunity to help support our youth
and strengthen our schools and communities.
The concept of mentoring is built on the simple conviction that support is the most
important thing that we can offer our children today, and belief that youth have the potential to be the communities’ greatest asset.
Mentoring
is (as simple as) a caring adult helping a child learn and just being a friend.
Mentoring Works!
Kettle Kinship
PO Box 695
Sandstone, MN 55072
Director: Shawn Jansen
shawn@kettlekinship.org
320.245.5339
Webmaster: rachelbaltes@gmail.com
