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iMentor Interactive Offers Busy Professionals a
New Way to Become a Mentor
A new mentoring program is being offered to students at Harding and Bassick High Schools and adults in area businesses through a collaboration between United Way of Eastern Fairfield County and the Bridgeport Public Schools.
The mentoring program is being launched and managed using iMentor Interactive, which is an innovative, technology-based program that will allow students and mentors to develop personal relationships while they explore ideas about careers and colleges. It is hoped that students and mentors will maintain their relationships for the second half of the 2007-2008 school year and continue for the 2008-2009 school year.
To participate in the program, mentors will fill out online applications which will be used to pair them with students with similar interests. As an important security measure, mentors will be asked to provide references and social security numbers so that background checks may be conducted. They will also attend a 2 hour workshop which will be scheduled at a convenient time to learn about the program.
Once paired with mentors, students will meet as a group during the school day to respond to “writing prompts” about such things as their favorite movies, academic goals and dreams for the future. These prompts will follow a pre-determined curriculum that is aimed to strengthen mentee writing skills, while also focusing on personal, academic and career goal setting. All correspondence between mentees and mentors will take place on the iMentor Interactive website, a closed and fully secure network; mentors and mentees will not know each others email addresses as these will be internal.
Mentors will not be online at the same time as their mentees. Rather, their role will be to sign on to the system after the students have sent their messages and respond to their mentees, offering their thoughts about the same prompts. The advantage to this program is that mentors will not have to leave homes and offices to participate. They will only need to plan on spending about forty-five minutes to an hour each week on their responses, establishing a two-way dialogue. Although mentors and mentees will build their relationships primarily through online communication, there will be opportunities for mentors and mentees to meet face to face several times during the year for enjoyable events. Advisors will be available for students and a program coordinator will be available to mentors to help them through any concerns or challenges.
Students will benefit from the personal relationships they establish and will improve their writing and technology skills. Mentors will benefit from knowing that they are able to provide support and guidance to students, opening new opportunities and possibilities for their mentees to consider. Mentors will also have the enjoyment of connecting with the bright, wonderful children in the Bridgeport schools.
iMentor has provided hundreds of successful mentor matches to New York City high school students since its inception in 1991. With iMentor Interactive, iMentor will provide Bridgeport with the online technology and support to manage this new mentoring program.
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