Montpelier, VT—MENTOR Vermont will host youth mentees, volunteer mentors, and mentoring supporters from around the state for its annual Youth Mentoring Celebration at the Statehouse on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 from 9:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. This free event marks the culmination of National Mentoring Month festivities in Vermont, and will feature the signing of a Mentoring Month proclamation by Governor Phil Scott and presentation of the 2020 Ambassadors of Mentoring Awards by Comcast.
Additionally, the Celebration will include the reading of a Mentoring Month resolution, introduced by Rep. Kate Webb (Chittenden-5-1) and ratified by the Vermont House of Representatives and Senate, a variety of hands-on activities for youth mentees in attendance, complimentary lunch for attendees, and guided statehouse tours for mentees and their mentors. Morning activities and lunch will take place in the Governors Ballroom at the Capitol Plaza Hotel, and the afternoon portion of the event will be held at the Statehouse.
“Mentoring Month is a special time for us to celebrate the stories and service of mentors from around the state,” said Chad Butt, executive director of MENTOR Vermont. “This year we are also looking to highlight the role that youth play in the mentoring relationship, and are excited to honor them alongside their mentors as ‘Ambassadors of Mentoring.’”
Each of this year’s 10 Ambassador mentor matches will be honored together at the Youth Mentoring Celebration. Members of the public can read the full nominations for each of the 10 mentor and mentee matches who were chosen as Ambassadors this year, and enter a free raffle for prizes by visiting www.mentorvt.org/Ambassadors-Of-Mentoring.
“Comcast is committed to supporting youth development programs and organizations, like MENTOR Vermont, who are improving the lives of our future leaders,” said Dennis Mathew, Senior Vice President of Comcast’s Western New England Region, which includes Vermont. “What MENTOR Vermont does to match kids with positive role models is commendable and can be life-changing for all involved. We’re extremely proud to join them in recognizing these incredible mentor and mentee teams from across the Green Mountain State.”
The 2020 Vermont Ambassadors of Mentoring are:
Angelique Parks and Darcie (Mentoring at United Counseling Service)
Bonnie Ferro and Kada (King Street Center’s Junior Senior Buddies)
Carolyn Grodinsky & Lillian (Girls/Boyz First Mentoring)
Dorothy Sacca and Charlie (Grand Isle County Mentoring)
Evan Leontis and Dylan (The Collaborative)
Laura Page and Kadence (Windsor County Mentors)
Lisa Rees and Ohana (Milton Mentors, Milton Community Youth Coalition)
Nathaniel Klein and Tanner (Middlebury College Community Friends)
Terri Weinstein and Tori (Twinfield Together Mentoring)
Zandra Cousino and Valkyrja (Monkton Mentors, Mt. Abraham Unified School District)
The Vermont Youth Mentoring Celebration is the culmination of MENTOR Vermont’s annual Vermont Mentoring Month campaign. Throughout January 2020, MENTOR Vermont and mentoring programs around the state are organizing a wide variety of activities to promote the positive benefits of mentoring, including volunteer recognition events, mentor pair activities, and benefit dinners at local restaurants. To learn more about the Mentoring Celebration, and other local mentoring events, visit www.mentorvt.org.
MENTOR Vermont’s 2020 Vermont Mentoring Month campaign is made possible through the continued support of Ambassadors of Mentoring sponsor Comcast; Statehouse Celebration sponsors Community Bank, N.A. and Redstone Commercial Group; Vermont Mentoring Month sponsors Cabot Creamery Cooperative, Northfield Savings Bank, Rutland Regional Medical Center, and the University of Vermont Medical Center; as well as Mentoring Supporter sponsors AARP Vermont, Community National Bank, Concept2, DEW Construction, Flex Realty, Heritage Automotive Group, Heritage Aviation, M. Kraus and Company, NFP Insurance, New England Federal Credit Union, North Country Federal Credit Union, Vermont Federal Credit Union, Vermont Gas, and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group.
The theme of the 2020 National Mentoring Month campaign is “Mentor In Real Life,” which encourages mentoring supporters and mentors to talk about the real-life benefits of mentoring. Nationally, the campaign is spearheaded by the Harvard School of Public Health, MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, and the National Basketball Association (NBA), with support from the Highland Street Foundation.
About Mentoring: According to the “Mentoring Effect,” a study released in 2014 by MENTOR, one in three youth in Vermont will enter adulthood without having a formal or informal mentoring relationship with a caring adult. National studies by MENTOR and Big Brothers Big Sisters demonstrate that youth with mentors are less likely to engage in risky behavior with drugs and alcohol, and they are more likely to develop positive relationships with peers and adults and pursue college and other post-secondary opportunities. Based on the 2019 Vermont Mentoring Surveys, more than 66 percent of middle and high school youth supported by mentoring programs in Vermont feel like they matter to people in their community, and more than 86 percent of mentors play a direct role in their mentee’s education.
About MENTOR Vermont: MENTOR Vermont (formerly known as Mobius) supports 140 adult-to-youth mentoring program sites that serve 2,300 mentor pairs throughout the state. In addition to awarding grant funding to youth mentoring programs, the organization provides technical support to mentoring program staff, maintains an online program directory and referral system for volunteers, manages a quality-based program management database, raises public awareness of mentoring, works with programs to ensure they are meeting best practices, and leads statewide mentoring initiatives. For more information about mentoring programs and initiatives in Vermont, visit www.mentorvt.org.
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