Mentoring matters, and yes: you can do it
Every student matters
Kids and teens are going to grow up regardless. The question is whether they’ll grow up feeling loved, nurtured, and supported on their way to becoming happy, healthy adults.
“Yeah, but I don’t have a degree.”
Doesn’t matter!
“Yeah, but I don’t have much money to spend.”
You don’t need to!
“Yeah, but I don’t know what to say.”
Yes, you do, and you will.
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We hear stuff like this about kids every day:
“She just needs a little guidance. A little structure in her life and she’ll succeed.”
“He’s been lost since his dad passed away. His mom just needs some help.”
“It’s doubtful he’ll graduate. Even if he did, he doesn’t have a plan.”
We also hear a lot more from kids and teens themselves:
“My dad works a lot on weekends. I wish I had someone to practice with.”
“My mom died from cancer. I don’t know who to ask about a lot of stuff.”
“I think I could do better in school. But I don’t know where to start sometimes.”
Boone County Mentors are changing the “expected trajectory” of a child or teen
87%
of mentors and mentees feel empowered by their mentoring relationships and have developed greater confidence.
98%
of those who have been mentored will also go on to mentor others.
52%
of students with a mentor are less likely to skip school compared to their peers.
There are more youth waiting than we have volunteers
Over a dozen kids in Boone County are waiting for a match
The opportunity to change the course of a person’s life for the better is rare. Yet, just by showing up, listening, and caring, you are doing just that. And it feels great!
Mentoring is not difficult. In fact, we struggle to articulate how easy this service is without undermining the importance of the program. Impact is made when mentors simply “show up.”
Mentors can grow personally, learning about themselves as their relationship with their mentees evolves.
This is what we see through Luke and Chandler’s story.
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The following transcript was generated with the help of AI. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
I grew up without a dad from when I was eight years old so I grew up fast. My name is Chandler Villareal. I’m 14. I’m a freshman and my mentor’s name is Luke. I was really excited to meet Chandler so I went to the office for the debriefing. Kind of found out a little bit about him. He showed up and I waved at him and his in out in the car and I knew that was him and he saw my car and he was I think he was bouncing up and down a little bit and I was like surely he’s not that excited to see me. I do like his car. I’m only 23 but having somebody who’s an adolescent going through middle school to high school change and trying to find their niche and what they enjoy and how to interact with other kids and I’ve I’ve just really bonded with him through this process and seeing him change socially. And I’ve really enjoyed seeing him grow. – It’s fun. I enjoy it. It’s just me and my brother, and then, well, my brother’s 21 and 20 anyways, so I don’t live with him. And I live with my aunt and my mom, so it’s nice to get out of the house and go hang out with another guy. He’s a friend. recently we just went on a boating thing. We went to him with his youth group and we’ve worked on his house. We went to a mission trip in Copper Hill, Tennessee. When we were on that mission trip he really stepped out and became a leader and he showed that confidence to other kids and it was just really cool to see that he could do that. I’ve done this before and he’s like my second mentor and the first one I had was pretty fun and it just got better. It’s a good feeling, knowing if I do need to talk to him, I can. Or if there’s anything like manly I know I can talk to him if I need to. Despite my involvement in so many other things with church and 4-H, I thought that I could change a life. And I’m, like Matt says, I’m just here to change one life. So if we can do that, I think we’ve accomplished something big or small. [MUSIC] [Music]
Mentoring matters
What’s it like being a mentor?
You’re not alone — we’re here to help
Being a mentor can be as simple as texting back and forth a few times a week or involving games, practices, academic support, and whatever else you think might be an excellent fit for each of you. But you’re not on your own. We’ll train you, support you with ideas and discounts, and more.
1:1 mentoring
Our matches are placed together with a 1:1 mentoring style. We believe this helps to provide the youth with undivided attention and support that’s right for everyone.
1 hour each week
We ask that each match meet for at least an hour each week or three hours total for the month. This time doesn’t need to be anything special; it could be taking a walk at the park, going out for dinner, or bonding over a tv show you watch together!
Training
Before you become a mentor, BCMP requires you to undergo a short interview to help prepare you for any opportunities you may face.
Mentoring activities
Thanks to many organizations partnering with Boone County Mentoring, we are able to offer unique activites and discounts for our matches.
We support you, you support them
When you mentor, you become a part of a loving, open BCMP family. This is your journey, and your BCMP staff and family will be there for you through it all!
Have fun
Mentoring is a unique journey that will impact that youth for years. BCMP Mentoring is NOT parenting but an outside support system for the youth of Boone County. Mentoring is a fun, eye-opening experience!
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FAQs from mentors about mentoring
You might be surprised that mentoring’s positive impact can be seen in as little as one hour each week! While we encourage more time with your mentee, we ask that you commit to at least one hour per week so every child in the program receives the maximum benefit.
Our volunteers lead busy lives, but they find being a mentor is more than just another volunteer commitment. It’s one of the most rewarding ways to impact a young person’s life positively.
We don’t care if you didn’t finish your degree – life gets in the way sometimes. We don’t care if you were unpopular in high school – the most exciting people weren’t.
Kids need to learn from life experience – and if you have that, you’re mentor material. Remember that our committed staff will guide you through any moments when you just aren’t sure how to move forward
A BCMP Mentor is not a tutor, therapist, babysitter, surrogate parent, savior, peer, or playmate.
A BCMP Mentor is a support system, friend, positive role model, inspiration, advocate, and listener.
Kids and teens in the mentoring partnership come from all kinds of backgrounds. Often their parents or caregivers recognize they need some help, often after a death or loss in the family.
Mentees come from all corners of Boone County, all faiths and races, socio-economic backgrounds, and personality types.
Before you begin your mentoring journey, you will participate in the BCMP Mentor Training Program to prepare you as a mentor. All mentors will also complete a background check before being matched with a mentee.
After your training, you will have a strong support team by your side, ensuring that you and your mentee have access to resources to make your “match” fulfilling and successful.
We match with a 1:1 Mentoring Model.
Our matches are put together with the intention that they will last years rather than months. We match mentors and mentees through common interests and hobbies. This allows our matches to do activites they enjoy together!
Through our matching process, some matches take weeks or months to be placed together. The BCMP team works diligently to match mentees and mentors as soon as possible.
We use a variety of tools to be sure that we get it right. Information in your application is cross-referenced with the information in our mentee’s application. We look for similar interests, hobbies, and traits. During the application interview we learn a little about your personality type. We also speak to the mentee and their family to learn what personality characteristics the mentee has before setting up an introduction at our Lebanon office.
We will contact you for an interview after you finish the application. We will also have you complete the Background Check consent form at that time.
The interview is designed to get to know our mentors. This helps us to match you with the right mentee. It is meant to be informal, casual, and conversational. This is also a great time to get your questions answered, so start making a list!
We’ll facilitate your first meeting with your mentee. We want to be sure that all parties understand roles and boundaries. It’s also nice to have a third party there to break the ice. First meetings are done at a neutral location, usually at one of our partner locations. We know there will be jitters. We’re here to help you through those!