The National Mentoring Partnership recognizes September as Back to School Month. Partners in Prevention recognizes this month as an opportune time for adult volunteers to engage in mentoring a child in the greater Longview area. Back to School Month aims to expand quality mentoring opportunities to connect more of our community’s young people with caring adults.
Lyndell McAllister, Mentoring Program Director, states “We have a particular need for male mentors for students in Pine Tree I.S.D. and also a need for both male and female mentors for students in all districts that we serve.”
Partners in Prevention will host two New Mentor Orientation sessions, one on Thursday, Sept. 12 from 5:30 – 8 p.m. The second session will be on Friday, Sept. 20 from 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Volunteers select the orientation session that is most convenient for them. The orientation is required and designed to equip volunteers for a successful one-to-one mentoring relationship with a young person. Please register by calling, 903-237-1019.
Partners in Prevention’s Forever Friends and Co-Pilots Mentoring Programs provided more than 200 youth with caring, trained adult mentors during 2018-19 school year. Mentors can choose to mentor a young person in Longview, Pine Tree, Spring Hill, Hallsville or Kilgore Independent School Districts. The mission of Partners in Prevention Mentoring Program is to inspire and encourage young men and women for Leadership through positive relationships.
Research has shown that when matched through a quality mentoring program, mentors can play a powerful role in providing young people with the tools to make responsible decisions, stay focused and engaged in school, and reduce or avoid risky behavior like skipping school, drug use and other negative activities.