Girls Inc. looking for volunteer mentors

LYNN – Girls Incorporated is looking to recruit volunteer mentors to aid high school seniors taking part in the Career Path Program with the complicated process of applying to college.The Career Path Program is a year-round offering which gives high school students aged 14-18 the opportunity to focus on their academics while receiving training in both life and career skills.With many of the participants in their senior year and looking forward to college, organizers are looking to re-hash a college-prep mentoring program that will work in conjunction with the Career Path Program to help students write college essays and complete applications and financial aid forms.”We have done this program in the past but we did not do it last year,” said Program Director Alicia McGee. “We have about eight seniors in the program right now, but we are hoping to get enough volunteers to open it up to more girls.”Mentors will meet with two students each Wednesday from 6-7:30 p.m. beginning Nov. 7. The program will run throughout the school year until May or June when the deadline to submit applications has passed.McGee said any mature adult can volunteer, but experience working with teens would be helpful. Volunteers should also be dedicated to the success of the students they are helping, dependable and willing to show up every week for mentoring sessions, have patience and flexibility, good troubleshooting and communication skills and be willing to work with the Girls Inc. staff to help each students.The mission of Girls Inc. of Lynn is to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold by meeting the needs of girls in the community, developing girls’ capacity to overcome the effects of discrimination and be self-sufficient, responsible members of the community, and by serving as a vigorous advocate for all girls. Volunteers should also be willing to fulfill the organization’s mission and provide reliable help to everyone in the program.”Having experience working with teens would be helpful, but most of all we want them to have the ability to empower the teens to do the application themselves, rather than just filling out the forms for them,” McGee said.Mentors will attend a two-hour training on Nov. 7 from 6-8 p.m., and will undergo an exit interview when the program concludes. Mentors will also have the opportunity to continue working with the teens if they are filling out scholarship applications and writing essays.Interested volunteers can call McGee at 781-592-9744 ext 232 or email [email protected].