Last week, Summer Search was invited to participate in an engaging online conversation about one of our favorite topics…
In honor of National Mentoring Month, our friends at iMentor hosted the #Mentor4Success Twitter Chat. They invited several organizations (including both mentoring orgs and their supporting partners, like the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation) for a discussion about ideas and key issues surrounding the importance of mentoring in youth development, as well as ways to work together to improve outcomes for young people across the country.
Here are some of the highlights…
Caring Adults Can Transform Lives
Young people can benefit greatly from having relationships with caring adults who can provide guidance, advise and different perspectives in order to challenge mindsets/behaviors.
A1: That anyone has the ability to succeed as long as they have a caring and trusted adult #Mentor4Success
— BBBS of Greater Pgh (@BBBSPgh) January 19, 2016
A1: A one-on-one relationship with a caring adult can transform a student's life. #Mentor4Success
— CISNC (@cisnc) January 19, 2016
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First-Gen Students Need Support
Students who are the first in their families to attend college often need more help navigating the unfamiliar terrain of higher education.
Q1: Mentors can use their experiences to coach their peers. This is helpful, esp for #firstgen college students. #Mentor4Success
— Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (@DellFdn) January 19, 2016
A1: First-gen college students need extra support with academic, personal, and professional challenges of attending college. #Mentor4Success
— America Needs You (@AmericaNeedsYou) January 19, 2016
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Mentoring Builds Skills For The Future
Mentoring relationships are crucial for empowering young people with the academic and economic skills they need for the future, especially when they are from lower-income communities.
A1: Mentoring builds a more educated workforce beginning in middle school by shaping skills and providing career exposure. #Mentor4Success
— Spark Chicago (@SparkProgramCHI) January 19, 2016
Communication is Key
There was plenty of discussion about what characteristics help foster a prosperous and strong mentor/mentee relationship. Overall, trust, empathy, respect and open communication were the factors at the top of everyone’s list.
A8: Communication, honesty, reciprocal respect, and willingness to share all make for great mentoring partnerships. #Mentor4Success
— America Needs You (@AmericaNeedsYou) January 19, 2016
A strong mentoring partnership requires open comm. & active participation from mentors, scholars & families. #Mentor4Success #MentorIRL
— LINK Unlimited (@LINKUnlimited) January 19, 2016
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Share the Success
Every organization shared their own inspiring success stories. There were almost too many to count, but here are a few of our favorites:
A2: Meet the Escobar bros, #firstgen college students who now work together. https://t.co/hivxzNqpYe #Mentor4Success
— Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (@DellFdn) January 19, 2016
A2: watch a great college success story of #mentoring with joe & robin #mentor4success https://t.co/ssahQaX4oS
— Liz (@LizKH) January 19, 2016
A2: After finding her leadership skills, @SummerSearchBOS's Judith Garcia ran for office + WON! https://t.co/kPCNOvrDqa #Mentor4Success 1/3
— Summer Search (@SummerSearch) January 19, 2016
Despite all these great stories of success, all the participants in the chat are well aware that there are still so many more underserved young people in America who have the potential for similar success, if given the opportunity.
Mentoring provides that opportunity for success.
Stay tuned as Summer Search wraps up National Mentoring Month by participating in another engaging mentoring discussion, this time at the 2016 National Mentoring Summit. More to come! #NationalMentoringMonth