President Bush and Governor Pawlenty Claim January as National Mentoring Month
1/24/2005 3:00 PMThe Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota along with the Governor of Minnesota and President Bush claim January as National Mentoring Month. This month-long focus provides an opportunity for our state and nation to devote its attention to recruiting volunteer mentors for the 450,000 Minnesota young people, 17 million nationwide, who are at risk of not achieving their full potential. The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota, the driving force in Minnesota’s mentoring movement, asks each of us to “Share What You Know. Mentor a Child.”
The future rests in the hands of today’s youth and mentors play a major role in encouraging, motivating and guiding youth. Research has shown mentored youth are 52 percent less likely to skip a day of school, 46 percent less likely to start using drugs and 27 percent less likely to start drinking. The state of Minnesota encourages its residents to “honor the role models in their lives by becoming mentors to youth in their community.”
In 2004, the Bush Administration approved $48 million in school-based grants and recognized mentoring in the State of the Union address. President Bush calls upon citizens of the United States to “recognize the importance of mentoring, to look for opportunities to serve as mentors in their communities, and to celebrate this month with appropriate activities and programs.”
The Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota is celebrating the month with a number of activities.
- Release of Guiding Lights: The People Who Lead Us Towards Our Purpose in Life –January
Official book of National Mentoring Month by Eric Liu and published by Random House
- Thank Your Mentor Day –January 25
Millions of Americans will reach out to thank or honor those individuals who encouraged and guided them, and who had a lasting impact on their lives.
- “Getting to Know More about Mentoring” informational sessions –January 27 and 29
An opportunity for the public to learn more about mentoring.
In more than 38 states and cities, partnerships of mentoring programs, are brought together under the umbrella of MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, to provide mentoring assistance to programs and a local volunteer referral system for prospective mentors to connect with throughout the year. National Mentoring Month is locally organized by the Mentoring Partnership of Minnesota and sponsored by 3M, Ceridian, and GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services with a media partnership with Next Media.
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