The Mentor Project at Penn State Behrend works with local schools and community sites to promote positive youth development by forming lasting relationships between Erie youth and trained mentors.
As a research-informed program, The Mentor Project at Behrend follows best practice guidelines from the national organization MENTOR and works closely with The Mentoring Partnership of Southwestern Pennsylvania (TMP). Staff and faculty affiliates at CORE are certified regional trainers for TMP and are able to offer Mentor Training 101 sessions for local organizations and schools in Erie County.
The needs and resources of each participating site are assessed to determine how best to promote positive youth development through mentoring. Currently, The Mentor Project at Penn State Behrend utilizes a small group-mentoring model, working both with trained Penn State mentors, as well as community mentors. This inter-generational group provides both mentees and mentors with an opportunity to learn from and with each other. Mentors come equipped to each mentoring session with evidence-based social-emotional curriculum, derived from the RAPS Manual: Relationships are Pathways To Success (original source: The Ophelia Project).
The Mentor Project worked with the following schools and education sites for the 2018-19 academic year:
- Autism Society
- Barber National Institute
- East Middle School
- Erie City Mission
- Iroquois Elementary
- Rice Ave Middle School - Girard
- Wattsburg Area Middle School
* The Mentor Project was projected to be in three to four additional schools/sites in the 2019-20 academic year.
For more information about The Mentor Project, please contact Kristin Hesch, Mentor Coordinator, by phone at 814-898-6653 or by email at [email protected].