National Mentoring Month

National Mentoring Month logo, designed by Milton Glaser.

National Mentoring Month is a campaign held each January to promote youth mentoring in the United States.^[1] It was inaugurated in 2002,^[2] and is spearheaded by the Harvard School of Public Health,^[3] MENTOR,^[4] and the Corporation for National and Community Service.^[5]

Each year since 2002, President George W. Bush has endorsed the campaign by proclaiming January as National Mentoring Month.^[6] The declaration has been endorsed by both chambers of the Congress. The campaign's media partners have included: ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC; Comcast; National Association of Broadcasters; Time Warner; and Viacom.^[7]

Participants in the National Mentoring Month campaign include leading nonprofit organizations and numerous governors and mayors. Designated nonprofit and governmental agencies are responsible for coordinating local campaign activities in communities across the country, including media outreach and volunteer recruitment. Local lead partners include state and local affiliates of MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership, Corporation for National and Community Service, Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network, America's Promise Alliance, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Communities in Schools, and United Way of America.

A highlight of the campaign is Thank Your Mentor Day,^[8] in which Americans thank and honor their mentors. People are encouraged to contact their mentors directly to express appreciation, become a mentor in their own community, make a financial contribution to a local mentoring program, or post a tribute on WhoMentoredYou.org.^[3]

General Colin Powell is the lead spokesperson for National Mentoring Month 2009.

As President-elect, Barack Obama agreed to be featured in a print ad in support of National Mentoring Month 2009.^[9]

References

1. ^ In-Sung Yoo (2004-01-26). "Mentoring swells into 'a movement'". USAToday.com. USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2004-01-26-mentoring_x.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-18. 
2. ^ "Media Campaign Focuses National Attention on Mentoring Program for At-Risk Youths". Grant Results. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. February 2004. http://www.rwjf.org/reports/grr/040878.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-20. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "National Mentoring Month 2008". Harvard School of Public Health. 2007-09-05. Archived from the original on 2007-09-05. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/2007-releases/press09052007.html. Retrieved 2007-10-23. 
4. ^ "National Mentoring Month 2007". MENTOR. 2007-01-01. http://www.mentoring.org/whats_new/national_mentoring_month_2007.php. Retrieved 2007-11-24. 
5. ^ "National Mentoring Month". Corporation for National and Community Service. 2006-12-21. http://www.nationalservice.org/about/newsroom/releases_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=542. Retrieved 2007-11-24. 
6. ^ Bush, George W. (2007-12-19). "National Mentoring Month, 2008". Office of the Press Secretary. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/12/20071219-4.html. Retrieved 2008-08-17. 
7. ^ Elliott, Stuart (2002-01-25). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; A determined effort to recruit mentors to work with youths.". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07EFD91F3BF936A15752C0A9649C8B63&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-08-20. 
8. ^ Alund, Natalie Neysa (2006-01-09). "January is a month for mentoring children". The Dominion Post (Morgantown, West Virginia) 
9. ^ Stuart Elliott (2008-12-18). "Advertising: Obama’s Stamp of Approval, Prepresidential". nytimes.com. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/business/media/19adco.html?scp=2&sq=mentoring&st=Search. 

See also

• Youth mentoring
• MENTOR
• StudentMentor.org

External links

• Official National Mentoring Month web site
• National Mentoring Month page at MENTOR
• National Mentoring Month page at Corporation for National & Community Service Web site
• Who Mentored You? - National Mentoring Month page by the Harvard Mentoring Project