Fulfill a New Year’s Resolution!  Become a Mentor During National Mentoring Month
January 12, 2007, Sun Valley Online (Idaho)

EDITORIAL
By MIKE McGILL

Happy New Year and welcome to the sixth annual National Mentoring Month, when our nation officially puts a spotlight on the importance of mentors and the need for every child to have a caring adult in his or her life. This year's theme is: Pass It On: Mentor a Child.

To make National Mentoring Month 2007 the most successful ever, the Corporation for National and Community Service has joined forces with the Harvard Mentoring Project and MENTOR in leading the initiative. We're working to recruit tens of thousands of new mentors willing to give young people the care and support they need to succeed in life.

You and the members of your organization can make a real difference. Youth development experts now agree that mentoring is a critical element in any child's social, emotional and cognitive development. It builds a sense of industry and competency, boosts academic performance, and broadens horizons.

Here are some things that you or your organization can do over the next month:

Become a mentor in your community. For more information, www.bcyak.org.
Learn more about mentoring at www.nationalservice.gov/nmm and www.mentoring.org/email.

Partner with a mentoring organization near you.

Tell 5 friends about mentoring.

Think about the mentors in your life and post a tribute to them online.

Watch celebrities such as Quincy Jones, Sting, and Maya Angelou talk about their mentors at Who Mentored You.

Learn what the research says about mentoring.

Go to YouTube on Thank Your Mentor Day, January 25th, and make the National Mentoring Month videos the most popular of the day!

PASS IT ON!

In every city, town, and neighborhood in this country, there is a child in need of a mentor.

Please forward this message to your friends, family, and coworkers and help us to spread the word about National Mentoring Month.