Editor:
Each week during the school year more than 300 adults spend one hour with students in our Sonoma schools as a mentor – to talk, play games and simply be there as a caring adult. This very small effort (an hour a week of just showing up) is life-changing for youth in our community, as evidenced by interviews I led in June with high school seniors who had applied for scholarships. I was blown away by how these students described the impact of their mentors “being there” week after week, year after year – with companionship, encouragement, and different perspectives on life.
My husband, brother and I are all mentors, and we benefit too: it feels good to show up and be there for someone else, and we learn too. For the hundreds of mentors before, now and in the future, thank you. And you should know that right now there are 60 students on a wait list to have a mentor, and more folks are needed to sign up. If you are interested, contact the Mentoring Alliance at info@sonomamentoring.org. Join us. It will be a great experience for you and your mentee.
Sherry Preiss
Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance Board member and Mentor to Victoria
Sonoma
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