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• Mentoring in Fairfax County
• Starting an FCPS Mentor Program
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For Current Mentor Program Coordinators

 

Suggested Activities

Click to see a year’s worth of mentoring activities!!

Funding Opportunities

• National Mentoring Center publications on sustainability and fundraising
• Grants.gov – a source for finding and applying for government grants
• The National Mentoring Center funding links: http://www.nwrel.org/mentoring/funding.html
• The Grantsmanship Center: http://www.tgci.com/
• The Foundation Center: http://fdncenter.org/

Grant-Writing Tips

• Writing grants can seem like a daunting task. These 10 basic tips will help you get started and will navigate you through the process: http://www.schoolgrants.org/tips/10_tips.htm
• Sample Grant Proposals: http://www.schoolgrants.org/proposal_samples.htm

 

Recruitment….the Saga Continues!

• Attracting and Connecting Volunteer: Mentor Recruitment- Summary of Best Practices
  http://www.mentoring.org/program_staff/files/recruitmentforum03.pdf

Training

Mentor Training

• What is the purpose of mentor training?
  The investment you make in initial and ongoing training of mentors contributes to the success of your program in a number of ways. Your training should be geared to helping mentors:
  • Become more skilled at developing caring mentoring relationships;
  • Learn about the challenges and barriers their mentees face and how to become more sensitive to those challenges and their effect on mentees; and
  • Gain confidence in their ability to make a difference in the lives of their mentees, which motivates and sustains their enthusiasm for the program.
• What should a mentor training include?
  • Icebreaker
  • Role of a mentor
  • Mentoring at your school (policies and procedures)
  • Stages of child and adolescent development
  • Relationship building
  • Communication and problem solving skills
  • Wrap up/Evaluation
  • Please click here to download a sample training agenda.
  • Click on this Learn to Mentor Toolkit for assistance in designing your training. It includes handouts, workshops, activities, and ideas for facilitating an effective Mentor Training.
• Mentee Training
  • Why train mentees?
    Many programs concentrate their training resources on the mentors, ignoring the needs of mentees. Mentees need a clear understanding of your expectations for the mentees participating in your mentoring program. By making roles and responsibilities clear from the beginning, you can minimize the potential for future misunderstandings. Additionally, at their orientation, youth participants need the opportunity to address their concerns about mentoring.
  • What should be included in a mentee orientation/training?
    • An overview of the mentor program
    • An explanation of what a mentor does
    • Benefits of having a mentor
    • How mentors and students are matched
    • Mentee responsibilities
    • How to make the most of the mentoring relationship
    • ***This Mentee Training Handbook is a GREAT RESOURCE!
      http://www.nwrel.org/mentoring/pdf/training_new_mentees.pdf

 

Tips for Providing Ongoing Support to Mentors and Mentees

While the initial mentor training is important, it is not enough. Every quarter, provide your mentors with ongoing training and support. Bring them together to ask questions, exchange ideas and share experiences. Also, consider inviting guest speakers, such as former mentors or mentored youth, to share their experiences. This give-and-take helps create a "mentor network" and support group. In addition, ensure your mentors understand that they can turn to your program coordinator for guidance and help when difficulties arise in their mentoring relationships.

Additional topics for ongoing mentor training include:

• Clarifying values
• Solving problems
• Learning counseling skills
• Understanding youth
• Dealing with substance abuse
• Learning leadership skills
• Understanding emotional problems

Strategies for Recognizing and Appreciating Mentors

• If you recruited your mentors and mentees from particular organizations, work with the staff of those organizations to design recognition opportunities for mentors and mentees.
• Consider holding a formal event, such as an annual breakfast, lunch or dinner to recognize the hard work and dedication of everyone involved with the mentoring program.
• Recognize outstanding mentor and mentee efforts, especially in reaching personal goals, such as improved grades in school or maintaining perfect school attendance for a specified time (one month, two months, etc.).
• Spotlight mentors' contributions by running articles about them in organization newsletters, via e-mail, on bulletin boards-in whatever ways the organization spreads the word.
• Encourage mentors to tell the story of their involvement, both through organization-sponsored programs and through their own initiative. One of the most effective recruitment tools is having mentors ask their friends and colleagues to mentor.
• Work with local print and electronic media to run stories about your mentoring program. National Mentoring Month in January, as well as National Volunteer Week in April, are perfect tie-ins.
• Develop special recognition programs, such as a "match of the month," to honor mentors and mentees.
• Nominate mentors for local or national volunteer recognition awards, but be sure to get your nominees' consent first.
• Ask your advisory group to recognize and congratulate mentors and reiterate their personal commitment to mentoring.
  For more information on recognizing volunteers, visit http://www.mentoring.org
  

Evaluating your Mentoring Program

Determining the impact of your mentoring program is critical to its viability, longevity, and recognition. It’s important to design your mentoring program around measurable goals, and your evaluation should look to answer the questions, is this mentoring program working? How do we know? Program evaluation can be a tedious, time-consuming task, but it’s becoming a necessary part of every facet of education, including mentoring! How to design a quality evaluation program.