Mentoring Month benefits community
The Utah Mentoring Partnership has helped launch January as the second annual National Mentoring Month.
According to the preliminary report, National Mentoring Month is intended to uplift and empower community and statewide mentoring initiatives, and encourage communitywide planning and coordination among mentoring groups.
Craig Dart, the Youth and Families with Promise (YFP) north area administrator, said Utah State University has the largest number of mentors in the state and is very successful with the YFP mentoring program.
“We service over 500 kids and over 1,200 additional family members. We have 27 programs in 22 counties,” Dart said. “Most other programs are single-site programs. We are statewide and found in even the most rural counties.”
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is also actively involved with the Utah Mentoring Partnership. According to a press release, he has been mentoring two young boys.
“The most amazing thing that happens when you mentor is how much more you receive than you give. I’ve learned a lot from these young men each time we get together and read and catch up,” he said.
Shurtleff spoke about mentoring to a variety of people in Juab on Tuesday.
Shauna Harmon, YFP site coordinator for Juab, said, “It was very successful. We had representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, schools, law enforcements, businesses, churches and also many of our mentors.”
It was the largest group Shurtleff had spoken to about mentoring.
Anne Stuart, a USU senior anthropology major and mentor, said, “I want to make a difference in someone’s life, and when you’re helping others, you feel better about yourself.”
Stuart mentors a 12-year-old girl.
“We get together about once a week and do all sorts of things, from scrapbooking and making collages to playing laser tag and checking out the cute guys at Cold Stone,” she said.
Adrie Roberts, site facilitator for YFP, said, “We would always love to have more mentors, especially males. These mentors are changing lives.”
Dart would like to see more students getting involved and making a difference.
“I often ask people, ‘If you knew you could make a difference in the life of a child, would you?'” he said. “The resounding answer is ‘yes.’ I follow up with, ‘Then why don’t you mentor?’
“The Cache County YFP and Cache County Latino programs are always looking for dedicated individuals who can make the commitment to mentor a youth once a week for the entire school year,” Dart said.
Stuart said, “I didn’t really have a mentor growing up, but I think it’s important to have someone you can look up to and trust.”
This month, Dart said he really wants people to know and be aware of what being a mentor truly entails.
“You don’t have to be a therapist, social worker, doctor, psychiatrist or counselor to make a difference in the life of a child,” he said. “What children really need is a caring adult in their life who they can trust, depend on and talk with.”
If students would like to get involved, they can call Adrie Roberts at 752-6263 or visit the YFP Web site at www.extension.usu.edu/yfp.
“Mentoring makes a difference,” Dart said.
–stacipete@cc.usu.edu