Mentoring to the Max!

The value of mentoring can have far-reaching effects on the lives of our children. Mayor Kathy Taylor’s office along with Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma, Camp Fire USA, Junior Achievement, Junior League of Tulsa and Resonance have partnered with the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, Partners in Education, Tulsa Public Schools and Union Public Schools to bring awareness to Tulsans about the need for mentors in the life of a child.

Our Mentoring to the Max initiative came about as one of the recommendations from the Building A Safer Tulsa Summit that was held September, 2006 to address gang violence. With the corporate support of Bank of America and our mentoring partners, we launched our first mentoring initiative in January 2007 and a second one in August and gained a combined total of more than 200 mentors for our community.

To date, Mentoring to the Max has created after school programs in 18 elementary schools in both the Tulsa Public and Union Public School districts. The after school programs, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities and Junior Achievement, serve more than 350 children with programs in enrichment, art, reading, self-esteem, computers, workforce development, moral duty, drama, dance, chess club, math, science and community service.

Now, as we begin a new year, we are once again asking you to step forward and become a mentor today.

Mentoring has been proven to reduce crime, help kids miss fewer days of school and improve their grades. It has the power to help children reach their fullest potential and prepares them to be successful throughout the course of their lives.

Young people are our greatest resource – they need and want mentors for a number of reasons. Mentoring provides children a way to…

• Stay motivated and focused at school
• Spend their free time with a positive role model
• Face daily obstacles and get good advise
• Develop career and economic skills and knowledge

Mentoring can make a wonderful difference in a child’s life. It only takes one hour a week of mentoring to change a child’s life forever. To find out how you can become a mentor, call 2-1-1, today. Mentoring can take place in one of our local schools or during out-of-school time through one of more than 40 mentoring programs in the city. To register online, e-mail Monroe Nichols. Please include your name and phone number.

 

Mayor’s Mentoring Month is sponsored by Bank of America.