The Talented Teen Club will celebrate National Mentoring Month with the Push for Girls and Boys Leadership Academy Mentoring Program at the Royal Palm Beach library.
January is National Mentoring Month, and this year, the Talented Teen Club is celebrating the annual campaign aimed at expanding quality mentoring opportunities to connect more young people with caring adults by targeting middle and high school girls and boys offerings in schools, and Saturdays with entrepreneurs and community leaders. Components include entrepreneurship, school and/or career preparation and work-based learning experiences, youth development and leadership, personal mission statements, and mentor/mentee goal setting and vision-casting.
The Talented Teen Club strives to reach, teach, guide and inspire underserved youth toward healthy ways of living. “Our children are our biggest investment,” said Shawn HoHingKing, president of the Talented Teen Club.
National Mentoring Research shows that mentors play a powerful role in providing young people with the tools to make responsible choices, attend and engage in school, and reduce or avoid risky behavior. In turn, these young people are 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college; 81 percent more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities; 78 percent more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities; and more than twice as likely to say they’ve held a leadership position in a club or sports team.
Yet the same research shows that one in three young people will grow up without a mentor.
National Mentoring Month is the time of year where engagement from community members interested in becoming a mentor is highest. This year, with the support of the mentoring community, the Talented Teen Club is encouraging the public to go beyond just digital engagement and become involved in real life. Mentoring relationships are at their best when connections are made between a caring adult and a young person who knows that someone is there to help guide them through life choices.
Locally, the Talented Teen Club will host the Push for Girls and Boys Leadership Academy on Saturday, Jan. 22 at the Royal Palm Beach Library, located at 500 Civic Center Way.
National Mentoring Month is led by Mentor, the national unifying champion of the mentoring movement.
To learn more about the role mentoring plays in the community, and to find volunteer opportunities, visit www.talentedteenclub.org or send an e-mail to shawn_king@talentedteenclub.org.
