SHIELD Mentor Program

Strengthen, Help, Inspire and Encourage Leadership Development
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Online Mentoring
 
The SHIELD Mentor Program has been set up to help support the personal goals of youth and to establish a positive, trusting relationship between online adult participants and the mentees.  Our iMentor program uses technology for mentors and mentees to communicate effectively online at their convenience.  It's safe and secure and creates a fun environment for youths to create personal life goals.

Conversations will center around topics of leadership development, such as:
 
  • Making Ethical Decisions
  • Setting Life-Long Goals
  • Building Character
  • Showing Respect
  • Responsibility & Accountability
  • Making Fair Decisions
  • A Caring Attitude
  • Citizenship in the Community
  • Becoming a Leader

 

To help you support the mentoring relationship in many of the areas listed above, SHIELD MENTOR PROGRAM provides writing prompts posted.

 

  • Mentees will visit online each week to check their e-mail through shield.imentorinteractive.org, to answer mentors e-mails or to start new conversations with mentors on their own.

 

  • Each participant is asked to complete one writing prompt a month, which takes a minimum of 30 minutes.

 

  • At minimum, we hope that each mentor and student will write each other at least once a week. These exchanges are the core of your relationship, and are the priority of this program.

 

  • In addition to these minimum requirements, and as your schedule and interests allow, we encourage you to e-mail your mentor or mentee even more often than once a week.

 

  • We suggest you plan for 1 hour a week for participating in this program. This can be at anytime, day or night, that you choose! At the very least, it will mean reading your mentor or mentees e-mail and writing e-mail yourself. 



 

Online Mentoring is...


• An internet-based curriculum and communication process.
• Safe and secure.
• Easy and convenient.
• Fun for the mentee.
• Email type system.


Advantages of online mentoring...

 

• Comfort – email is a medium youth already use.
• Convenience – mentor and mentee. communicate when able.
• Safety - protects youth and  mentors from some of the issues proximity can cause.

 


 

For youth...

• Provides a consistent adult in their online world.
• Improves writing, problem-solving and decision making skills.
• Helps youths create personal life goals.

•Expands their world.


Submit our online application now!
 Program Requirements
  • access to a computer for 1 hour per week
  • an email address (account)
  • a clean criminal and child abuse history for mentors
  • a willingness to share your own story
  • at least 1 email per week to your mentor or mentee

   

Would you like to participate, but don't have a computer at home?  No problem.  You can use the computer at your local library or at your school to quickly respond to your emails.

 

BEFORE YOU BEGIN, you must complete the online application, and, when directed, complete your online profile survey. You will not be matched until these two items are completed in full.

       

On-going Training and Support
SHIELD takes pride in its support and training of our mentors and mentees. We provide comprehensive initial training as well as monthly gatherings to support the mentoring relationship.


SHIELD's online mentoring is made possible through the iMentor Interactive (iMi) platform, providing a safe and secure online social network specifically designed for mentoring and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Grant Award.

 

If you have interest in volunteering in this capacity, please contact the Founder/Executive Director, Precious McKoy, at mckoyp@shieldyouth.com or 336-337-2771.