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January is National Mentoring Month. Every student needs at least one caring adult or peer that they can turn to when they need advice or just want to talk. Mentors are an integral part of student social-emotional wellbeing and academic success. This month, and every month, we appreciate how mentors make an impact in students’ lives.
Students continue to face uncertainty, trauma, and fear as the virus persists. Mental health issues, like depression, suicide, and self-harm, are some of the most concerning safety threats at schools today. A mentor guarantees that the student has at least one caring adult who can help them navigate and cope with challenges, including those that began with or during the pandemic.
What is a School Mentor?
Mentors build trusted relationships with students and give them a safe person to turn to when they need advice or simply want to talk through their emotions or concerns. Mentored students also maintain more positive attitudes towards school, are over 50% less likely to skip class, and stay more on track academically.
Who Can be a Mentor?
Mentors can be staff like teachers, counselors, school resource officers (SROs), and cafeteria workers. Older students—like high school seniors—can also be mentors to students in lower grade levels. Partnering with external organizations and volunteers is another great way to recruit mentors to your program. These external partners can be your local librarian, college students, and groups like Big Brothers Big Sisters—just to name a few.
What Can School Mentors Do?
There are many activities school mentors can do to build relationships with students and help them succeed. In-person ideas include one-on-one conversations, group sessions, playing card games, drawing, doing seasonal activities like carving pumpkins, among many others. Mentors can also be remote and have virtual one-on-one or group sessions. Other creative virtual ideas include being a reading buddy, playing online games, helping with homework, and much more.
The possibilities are endless, but as we want students to look forward to seeing their mentor, it’s important that each session is age-appropriate and aligned with the student’s likes and goals. For example, don’t make a student journal during every session if you know they hate writing. That student may eventually drop out of the program.
How Do Schools Screen and Track Mentors?
It is critical that the school confirms each mentor is safe to be around and work with students. They can do this by verifying that the mentor is not a registered sex offender or has a criminal history. An automated volunteer management system makes it easier to gather the information you need for accurate screenings.
Trusted by schools nationwide, Raptor Volunteer Management provides an integrated, customizable online volunteer application, full criminal background checks, volunteer hour tracking, event management, and robust reporting. For virtual mentors, you can track their hours even when they aren’t signing into an actual building. Mentors also have access to a volunteer portal where they can sign up for sessions, track hours, and communicate with other mentors and school staff.
Schools can leverage ARP ESSER funds to purchase Raptor. To learn more, contact us today.
