Collab needs mentors for youth program

“We are in desperate need of mentors who are willing to volunteer their time to speak into the life of a child,” she said.

Mentors with the collab will assist students emotionally, socially and sometimes academically.

Rhodes said mentors will have to be role models, encouragers, listeners, motivators and trusted guides. She added they are responsible, caring adults who seek to invest in a child’s life without the value of money.

“Children who have a mentor figure in their lives are more likely to stay in school and to successfully graduate,” Rhodes said. “Mentors also encourage students not only to do well academically, but socially and developmentally. Many mentors begin mentoring an elementary school student and continue with the same child until the child graduates from high school.”

To be a mentor, one must apply and complete a mentor training session, complete and pass a fingerprint/background check with the Griffin-Spalding County School System and complete Stewards of Children training either online or in an in-person group session.

These volunteers will meet with their assigned students during the school day at the schools. Meetings are scheduled weekly for 30 minutes to one hour depending upon the students’ schedules.

The collab hopes to have new mentors and vetted and trained by the end of August, with meetings with mentees taking place in September.

An in-person training session is 6:30 p.m., Aug. 14, at City Church.

More information: kathy@spaldingcollaborative.com, krrhodes27@gmail.com and (404) 316-2704.