Make A Difference: Be An HCI Mentor
Healthy Communities Initiative (HCI) is currently seeking volunteers to serve as mentors to high school students. The HCI Partners In Excellence™ (P.I.E.™) mentoring program is a partnership between HCI, the Rose Tree Media School District and the Rocky Run YMCA.
The purpose of the P.I.E.™ program is to provide students with a long-term mentor from local businesses or other organizations, or an active volunteer, who can be a positive adult role model, and to give students the stability that another adult relationship outside the home can provide. Activities that students and mentors participate in include spending time in the mentor’s workplace, which helps students with career exploration; activities that develop and strengthen life skills, and fun group outings with other students and mentors, which strengthens relationships and community. Research shows that when young people have mentors it increases school grades, develops the students’ outside interests and confidence, and helps students focus on post-high school future plans. It also dramatically reduces the chance of high risk-taking behavior.
The mentor orientation, training and student selection process begins while students are in 8 th grade at Springton Lake Middle School, with the goal that the mentor and student will start meeting on a monthly basis once they enter Penncrest High School. Mentors complete an orientation/training process, and they agree to commit only two hours a month to face-to-face meetings with their students. These hours can be satisfied by including the students in the workplace or by doing volunteer work or recreational/educational activities. The mentoring relationship is created for the entire four years of a student’s high school career, because research in this field has shown that in order for young people to receive the maximum benefit, mentoring needs to be a consistent long-term commitment.
Adults currently serving as mentors report that they receive as much benefit as the students to which they are paired. “I have enjoyed my experience and have learned a lot from being a mentor in the P.I.E. program,” says Gary Kamin of Glen Mills. “Together, my student and I are developing a relationship that includes communication, sharing and concern for each other. I am looking forward to interacting with him during the remaining two years of his high school career.”
A Mentoring Orientation session for new volunteers is planned for Wednesday, Oct. 14 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room of the Wawa Corporate University, 260 West Baltimore Pike in Wawa. A light dinner will be served at the event, after which further details will be provided about the program. Pre-registration is required; to register or to request more information, call HCI at 484-442-8532, or email Janet.HCI@comcast.net.
Some of the people enjoying HCI’s summer barbecue, Aug. 19, were Jackie Turet, mentor Nick Fortunatus, Corey Nix, C.J. Cassey, Ryan O’Toole and Nick Ouyang.