Currently, more than 80 students throughout all White County publics schools are participating in our Mentor Program. We’d love to pair your child with a trained mentor in our program. Please complete the permission form below if a Family Advocate, school counselor or another admin has referred your child. If your child has not yet been referred to our program, complete the Student Referral Form and we will follow up with you.
Parental Permission Form
If a Family Advocate or school counselor has reached out to you to ask if your child would like to be paired with a mentor, the first step is to complete the Parental Permission form.
Refer Your Child to be Mentored
If you haven’t been approached about your child being paired with a mentor, you can fill out our Student Referral Form to let us know that you would like your child to have a mentor.
What is a Mentor?
A mentor is a caring, consistent adult who serves as a:
- Listening ear
- Positive role model
- Trusted friend and encourager
- Safe place to talk and dream
Through weekly, one-on-one meetings, mentors build meaningful relationships that help students feel supported, valued, and confident in who they are.
What is the Difference Between a Mentor and Counselor?
School counselors play a vital role in supporting the overall wellbeing and academic success of hundreds of students across our schools. While they check in regularly and may meet with students for a few months at a time, their wide range of responsibilities makes it difficult to provide ongoing, one-on-one attention to any single child throughout their entire school career.
Mentoring, on the other hand, offers a more personal and consistent relationship. Mentors focus on just one student, building a connection based on trust, encouragement, and genuine care. A mentor serves as a listening ear, positive role model, sounding board, and cheerleader—someone who shows up simply to support your child as they grow.
Our goal is for each mentor-student relationship to last at least one year, with many mentors continuing to walk alongside their student until high school graduation. This long-term consistency helps students feel known, heard, and valued, year after year.
How It Works
- Meeting Schedule: Mentors meet with students once a week for 30 minutes, usually during lunch or study skills class (middle school)—so there’s no interruption to academic learning.
- Meeting Location: Sessions take place in a quiet, supervised space such as a conference room, library, or empty classroom.
- Consistency: Mentors meet only at school during the academic year, but may choose to mail encouraging cards during the summer to maintain the connection.
- Cost: There is no cost for your child to participate.
Our Mentor Standards
Every mentor in our program:
- Completes comprehensive mentor training focused on building trust, active listening, and healthy communication.
- Successfully passes a fingerprinting background check prior to being matched with a student.
- Completes an online Mandated Reporter Training module required annually for all school staff and long-term volunteers.
You can feel confident knowing your child’s mentor is well-prepared and carefully screened to provide safe, positive guidance.
Why Mentoring Matters
Research from mentoring.org shows that 74% of adults who had a meaningful mentor as youth say that relationship contributed significantly to their success later in life. Mentoring changes trajectories—one caring relationship at a time.
Our Commitment
Our goal is for each mentor to walk alongside their student for at least one year, providing steady encouragement and support. We believe every child deserves to be known, heard, and valued as they grow. Many mentors choose to continue meeting with their students through high school graduation, building lasting relationships that make a lifelong impact.