West Side High School Looking for Mentors

The following is a news release from Wenatchee Learns Connect:

A mentor provides critical guidance to a young person on his or her path toward productive adulthood however, 1 in 3 young people will grow up without a mentor. At Wenatchee’s WestSide High School, a mentorship movement is on the horizon to close help close the gap for students.

WestSide is now offering a mentorship experience to seniors to help set them on the path to success after high school. WestSide is currently seeking community volunteers to serve as mentors in the new WestSide High School Mentor Program.

Through the program, mentors will be matched with one to two WestSide seniors. Mentors and mentees will meet twice a month at the school during designated mentor meetings until graduation. During these sessions, mentors will walk seniors through a variety of pre-arranged lessons and activities to help them develop a post secondary action plan.

Mentors can choose to support seniors enrolled in either the daytime or evening programs. The first WestSide High School Mentor meetings will be held on at the school on Wednesday, November 15 at 10:00 am for the daytime program and at 4:30 pm for the evening program.

The WestSide High School Mentor program complements the existing Wenatchee High School College Mentor Program that has paired first generation and low income WHS students with a community mentors for the last 10 years. “ I am pleased to offer a way for the community to make a meaningful impact on the lives of students at WestSide” said WestSide High School Principal, Kory Kalahar.

According to MENTOR the National Mentoring Partnership, mentoring, at its core, guarantees young people that there is someone who cares about them, assures them they are not alone in dealing with day-to-day challenges, and makes them feel like they matter. Research confirms that quality mentoring relationships have powerful positive effects on young people in a variety of personal, academic, and professional situations. Ultimately, mentoring connects a young person to personal growth and development, and social and economic opportunity.

By preparing young people for college and careers, mentoring helps develop the future workplace talent pipeline. Mentors can also prepare their mentees for professional careers and assist with their workplace skills by:
Helping set career goals and taking the steps to realize them.
Using personal contacts to help young people network with industry professionals, find internships, and locate possible jobs.
Introduce young people to resources and organizations they may not be familiar with.
Skills for seeking a job, interviewing for a job, and keeping a job.

The development of citizen-student mentorship is a key strategy of the Wenatchee School District’s Wenatchee Learns vision of personalized learning. By tapping the power of the whole community we can rewire learning and help youth prepare for life in the 21st century.

Community members interested in becoming a WestSide High School Mentor can contact WestSide Principal Kory Kalahar at kalahar.k@wenatcheeschools.org or by calling WestSide High School at 509-663-7947 for more information.