Mentoring program designed with careers in mind

Paul Jette knows people are worried about recent shootings and crime among Chattanooga's teens.

He thinks most residents would like to help in some way.

And a federal grant is providing a way for people to do just that, he said.

Mr. Jette is a GoodGuides master mentor, a mentoring program for at-risk 16 and 17-year olds in Chattanooga and six other area counties. He and Marjean Gingrich have landed on a U.S. Department of Justice grant to help.

The $300,000, two-year grant has basic, but vital goals, said Ms. Gingrich, program manager.

"Keep kids from dropping out of school. Get dropouts back in school. Keep (teens) out of the juvenile justice system or keep those who have been in the system from re-offending," she said.

The program differs from traditional mentoring efforts by tying a career path to the work that the mentor does with the teen, Mr. Jette said.

After the first meeting, the mentor and teen identify what professional areas interest the teen. Then the mentor arranges for visits to job sites and summer job shadowing programs.

Mr. Jette said directly showing alternatives to crime and gang lifestyles to the teen can help pull the young person out of a cycle of poverty where there are few good role models.

GoodGuides staff will match a mentor with a similar interest or career with the teen's interests, he said.

The staff has found no lack of at-risk teens in the area, but finding volunteers to mentor youth has been more difficult, Mr. Jette said. He's targeted independent-living facilities, looking to the retired community for help, but he has also taken recommendations from the public at-large.

Mentors and teens will begin meeting by early May, Ms. Gingrich said. The program has a dozen mentors already interested and at least 15 teens identified through contact with area schools.

Cyndee Sims, vice president of mission services for Goodwill, said mentors meet with teens in public places and all mentors undergo a federal background check, drug screening and a six-hour training course.

"The key to this whole program is the mentor," Ms. Sims said. "You would be surprised what makes a difference in a child's life."

Two key factors for breaking a cycle of poverty among youth, she said, are education and role models.

"I don't care if you're 90 or 20," she said. "If you really like youth and you can talk to them, you can be a mentor."

Program

GoodGuides is a two-year, federally funded mentoring program that matches at-risk teens with screened mentors for career and life guidance. Locally, the program is seeking participants in Hamilton, Bradley, Rhea and Sequatchie counties. In Georgia, the program is in Dade, Catoosa and Walker counties.

To participate, call Paul Jette, GoodGuides master mentor, at 423-629-2501, ext. 227

You must pass a federal criminal background check, a drug screening and commit to at least one year to the program, which requires four hours of face-to-face contact and two hours of phone or e-mail contact each month.

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