National Mentoring Month

 

Nevada Mayor Lynn Lathrop signed a proclamation on December 30 declaring January to be National Mentoring Month in Nevada. He is pictured with Emily Kruse (school counselor at Central Elementary in Nevada), Kalli-Ann Bowers (Youth and Shelter Service’s Nevada Mentoring Facilitator), and Ellen Johnsen (YSS’s Mentoring Coordinator). The Great Relationships in Pairs (GRIP) Mentoring Program is a collaboration between YSS and the Nevada Public Schools and last school year served over 40 students.
Not only did Mayor Lathrop sign the proclamation, he invited GRIP staff to attend an upcoming city council meeting to help share our program with more people.
Thanks for your support Mayor Lathrop!

STATEMENT IN OBSERVANCE OF NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH     IN NEVADA

Whereas, in 2002, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership created National Mentoring Month;

Whereas, the goals of National Mentoring Month are to raise awareness of mentoring, recruit individuals to mentor, and encourage organizations to engage and integrate quality in mentoring into their efforts;

Whereas, a mentor is a caring, consistent presence who devotes time to a young person to help that young person discover personal strength and achieve their potential through a structured and trusting relationship;

Whereas, quality mentoring encourages positive choices, promotes self-esteem, supports academic achievement and introduces young people to new ideas;

Whereas, mentoring programs have shown to be effective in combating school violence and discipline problems, substance abuse, incarceration and truancy;

Whereas, research shows that young people who were at risk for not completing high school but who had a mentor were 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college, 81 percent more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities, more than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or sports team, and 78 percent more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities;

Whereas, youth development experts agree that mentoring is critical to the social, emotional and cognitive development of youth, helping them navigate the path to adulthood more successfully;

Whereas, mentors help young people set career goals and use their personal contacts to help young people meet industry professionals and find jobs;

Whereas, all of the above listed benefits serve to link youth to economic opportunity while also strengthening the fiber of our communities

Whereas, despite these benefits, one in three youth will reach age 19 without a mentor – constituting a “mentoring gap” that demonstrates a need for collaboration and resources;

 

Now, Therefore, I, Mayor Lynn Lathrop

do hereby declare January 2016

NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH in Nevada

and call upon public officials, business and community leaders, and educators, and encourage all Nevada citizens to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies, activities and programs in order to:

1. recognize the men and women who serve as staff and volunteers at quality mentoring programs and who help our young people find inner strength and reach their full potential;

2. acknowledge that mentoring is beneficial because it encourages educational achievement, reduces juvenile delinquency, improves life outcomes, and strengthens communities;

3. promote the creation and expansion of quality mentoring programs across the country to equip young people with the tools needed to lead healthy and productive lives; and

4. support initiatives to close the “mentoring gap” and match the five students currently waiting for a mentor at the Nevada Public Schools.