Champaign-Urbana One-to-One Mentoring Program

Each year mentees complete a year-end survey about the experience of having a mentor. One question asks, "What do you like most about spending time with your mentor?"

Here are a few things students said in their 2011 survey:

I like when my mentor believes in me.

I have someone to talk to that can relate to my problems, but also help me with those problems.

Youth mentoring can have tremendous impact on both the adult and the child. In a typical program, mentors visit with their "mentee" for approximately one hour per week during the school day, on the school grounds, during the school year. Mentors and mentees usually spend their time together doing fun and creative activities: talking/listening, playing games, doing something physical like going for a walk on school grounds or playing basketball, reading, exploring on the computer, doing experiments, doing art/craft projects and more. Mentors' goal is to build a relationship of trust with their mentee.

University employees may use an hour of release time per week for mentoring in local elementary and secondary schools, as provided by policy in the Campus Administrative Manual.
http://ap.illinois.edu/community/givingback/mentor.html

Workplace Mentoring Internship Program

A partnership of C-U One-to-One Mentoring and the C-U Business Community

A Model for School-Business Partnerships

Program Objective: To provide Champaign-Urbana high school students involved in the C-U One-to-One Mentoring Program an opportunity for intensive workplace mentoring with a focus on teaching work habits, work skills and helping the individual student to discover the various opportunities available to them in a specific employment area.

Plan: During the summer of 2011, four businesses offered 9 students involved in the mentoring program the opportunity to work alongside a manager or director for a period of six weeks in the summer on a full time basis. Students are paid at minimum wage and received no benefits. They participate in all aspects of employee orientation.

Student requirements: 16 years of age, involved in the C-U One-to-One Mentoring Program, the ability to procure transportation to and from the business and an interest in pursuing a potential career opportunity in this business setting.

Workplace Mentoring Interns for 2011

* Carle Foundation Hospital: 5 internships: Wound Healing (Cassie Irvin), Inpatient Oncology (Piper Harvey), Food Services (Katie Regan), T6 Medical (Taqeshia Bevly), ECHO Program (Markiya Scott).
* Health Alliance Medical Plans: 2 internships: Compliance Department (Kearia Crider-Harvey), Internal Audit (Gus White)
* Horizon Hobby: 1 internship (Ashley Evans)
* C-U MTD: 1 internship (Keosha Gaines)

In May of each year the Mentoring Scholarship Foundation sponsors a banquet for C-U One-to-One mentor/mentee pairs in Champaign/Urbana Schools. The goals of this event are two-fold:
* To encourage mentors to commit to another year of mentoring their students, and
* To encourage students to stay in school, graduate and pursue continuing education.

The highlight of the Middle School/High School banquet each year is the presentation of scholarships to our graduating Seniors. Nine Urbana and Champaign Seniors received this scholarship in 2011. Seventy eight scholarships have been awarded to C-U One-to-One mentees since the first scholarship was given in 1999 to Denise Graves.

2012 Scholarship Banquet for Middle School/High School

Tuesday, May 1st
at the Hilton Garden Inn
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Registration beginning at 5:30

2012 Elementary Year-End Pizza Party

Thursday, April 26th
at the Urbana Civic Center
5:30-7:00 p.m.
Registration beginning at 5:15

The banquet, pizza party and scholarships are all funded by generous donations to the Mentoring Scholarship Foundation.