A New Year of School-based Mentoring

This afternoon at the Pittsburgh Faison K-5 school I attended a LAMP luncheon for the school staff and school-based mentors. Everyone ate pizza together (donated by a local Pizza Hut restaurant), enjoyed getting to know one another, and learned more about what a successful school-based mentoring partnership looks like. Going into our sixth year of school-based mentoring, we are starting to have a pretty good idea of what it takes to impact some of the most at-risk young people in the city. Meetings like today's luncheon help to build momentum for the program before the kids arrive. If the school staff chooses not to buy in to the idea of mentoring, then the program almost always fails. If the mentors from places like churches and businesses don't buy into the mentoring, then the program fails. Partnerships are hard work sometimes, but they are so worth it. In today's culture, schools can't make it on their own. They need to embrace support from the community in the process of educating their students. Likewise, churches cannot impact the community on their own... their impact is much greater when they leave the safe Christian bubble for the sake of partnering with other institutions in the community. At the end of the day, these types of partnerships are mutually beneficial for both churches and schools. I am looking forward to another year of incredible school-based mentoring in Homewood through LAMP!