January is ‘National Mentoring Month,’ and West Hartford Public Schools will be holding a mentor training session on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023.
By Ronni Newton
During January, school districts across the country celebrate “National Mentoring Month,” and while it’s a good time to recruit and hold training sessions, those who have been involved in mentoring know that the relationships that are formed transcend just one special month and create an impact that can last a lifetime – for both the mentor and the mentee.
Gary Sekorski mentors several West Hartford Public School students. A mentor is not a tutor, he said, but about being someone who will listen, about being someone a young person can trust.
“I truly enjoy teaching and spending quality time with kids,” he said. “So when I was no longer able and available to coach kids in sports – and because my own two kids have grown – mentoring was the next best step.”
Mentoring has benefits for Sekorski as well as the students he spends time with. “I get complete satisfaction and mental fulfillment knowing that I am helping a young person guide themselves through life and all the things that come with growing up and making decisions,” he said.
“I’m their friend first,” he added. “Also, someone they enjoy being with, someone who cares about them and someone they can trust.”
Carol Wilkas coordinates the West Hartford Public Schools’ mentorship program. “A mentor is someone with compassion and willingness to make a ‘real’ difference in the life of a young person,” she said.
Sekorski asked two of his mentees why they think it’s important to have a mentor, and shared their answers.
One student, a sophomore in high school, responded that a mentor is “someone to express my feelings to – and someone to help me with future things because [he has] experience in those things, like sports, school, friends and stuff.”
Mentor Gary Sekorski with mentee Davonta E. Grade 10, Hall High School. Courtesy photo
A seventh grade mentee said he enjoys spending time with Sekorski “because I want a break from school to rest my brain and to spend some time with someone else.”
There are many more students who are interested in having a mentor than there are mentors to go around – even though some mentors like Sekorski take on more than one student.
“As we continue to deal with the impact that the pandemic has had on our educational system, particularly our youngest students, the need for mentors remains high,” Wilkas said in a an announcement of an upcoming training program for new mentors, scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 24. “The number of students identified by school staff as candidates for the mentor program is still on the rise, and West Hartford Public Schools Mentor Program is asking for your help to strengthen opportunities for young people within our community.”
Wilkas cited statistics from the “National Mentor” website, highlighting just a few of the benefits of having a mentor: “Students who are mentored are 52% less likely to skip school, 78% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities, and 130% more likely to hold a leadership position in a club or sports team.”
Being a mentor requires no more than an hour a week, and doesn’t require special skills, she said, “just a willingness to be there, to listen and to offer friendship. And the amazing part is, as virtually 100% of the feedback we receive from mentors indicates, you will feel that you are getting just as much, if not more, out of the relationship as your mentee does. You will find that you will enrich your own life as much as that of the young person you are spending time with.”
Mentor Gary Sekorski with mentee Ry’on M. Grade 7, Bristow Middle School. Courtesy photo
“”It’ important to have a friend to talk to,” Isaiah G., an eighth grader at King Philip Middle School said.
“I like having a friend to talk with,” said Ry’on M, a grade 7 student at Bristow Middle School.
Mentor Gary Sekorski with mentee Isaiah G. Grade 8. King Philip Middle School. Courtesy photo
Anyone interested in becoming a mentor is encouraged to attend one of two training sessions on Jan. 24. An in-person session will be held from noon-2 p.m. in Room 217 at West Hartford Town Hall, 50 South Main Street. A virtual meeting will also be held on Jan. 24, from 6:15-8 p.m.
For more information about mentoring or to register for one of the Jan. 24 training workshops, call Mentor Program Coordinator Carol Wilkas 860-251-9331 or email [email protected].
