Opportunities From: United Way of King County

The middle school years are a tough time for young people. This time of transition is filled with myriad changes: increased responsibilities, peer pressure, confusion and lack of motivation, in addition to natural changes. This is the time when young adults are building their self-esteem and their confidence. Unfortunately, many students go through these changes alone because they don’t know where to turn. They feel misunderstood by their peers, or maybe have difficult relationships with their family. These formative years are when they love and rely on friends and need the most authentic support.

This is where you are important. As a volunteer mentor, you are that friend and support system. Through spending time together, having fun and enjoying each other, your student partner will become more confident and comfortable in his or her own skin. Your mentee will have a glimpse of your life and experiences, which many times are vastly different than theirs. In return, you will be welcomed into your student’s life, as you create the foundation of newfound knowledge and friendship.

As a mentor, you will spend time with your youth three times a month: twice one-on-one, and once during our monthly group workshops. Even if you are busy, if you have four free hours a month, you can make a difference.

A key part of our program is building a community for our youth; along with one-on-one time spent with you, everyone attends monthly program sponsored outings. While these outings appear to be simply for fun, they have a large learning component, and in them we discuss topics important to our students, such as body image and confidence, bullying, communication, dating, and family. These outings are scheduled once a month and vary in location to allow for variety to the group and scheduling.

Think back to your middle school experience. How amazing would it have been to have had a mentor – a person dedicated to your success – to look up to and from whom to gain benefit? By giving just hours each month, you can become a permanent good in a young person’s life. We all deserve to become the best version of ourselves that we can be.  Sign up for more information and you could give a middle school youth the love, support, and friendship they need.

If you are looking for the opportunity to:

-Change a young person's life
-Inspire young adults to be their best
-Coach a student through dialogue and action

-And of course, have fun!

Then you are ready to be a mentor! Our mentors are here to help guide students in creating meaningful, inspired, and empowering lives. Three times per month, as scheduled between our mentors and their students, we come together to build bonds that last a lifetime. The first two meetings each month are designed for our mentors and our young adults to meet one-on-one to develop trust and kinship, and to discuss topics pertinent to students in today’s world. The third meeting brings us all together to convene on what we have learned.

At our monthly workshops the students learn skills that will help them navigate different hardships that are typical during middle school. Some of these topics include, cyber bullying, social media safety, healthy living, and how to avoid drugs and dating violence.

When you and your student meet for your one-on-one time, you are have fun, laugh together, learn together, and get to know each other. As a mentor, you are there as an older, wiser friend, to help guide your student through difficult times, like learning to take responsibility for mistakes, and through incredible times, like watching your friend pass a difficult test, make a sports team or club, or volunteer at local events. Through your actions, you will help your mentee learn how to navigate through the confusions of adolescence by talking through all options and paving a pathway for success and happiness.

Our mentors meet students wherever they may be in life. Each mentor and student relationship is a little different – some matches are going to be more academically driven, while others are going to be more focused on talking about life.

We are all here for a great purpose, and you have the potential to make a young person’s life brighter! Don’t just be, be the best version of you that you can be. Inspire. Create. Teach. Laugh. Guide. Mentor.

If you want to learn more you can visit us at www.empowermentoring.org or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/empowermentoringprogram.

Join us today, and be Empowered!