College Community Mentoring Program

Be a Volunteer Mentor

³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ's College Community Mentoring Program (CCMP) is a volunteer mentoring program that seeks to engage ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ students in the community by serving as consistent, reliable adult role models for local children and teens. The program recruits, trains, and matches ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ students with public school students to work on academics and college aspirations. ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ students commit to working one-on-one with a youth for at least one hour a week throughout the entire school year.

Mentors build a structured and trusting relationship with their mentees by offering guidance, support, encouragement, and academic assistance. Through the CCMP mentoring relationship, ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ mentors help young people develop into confident, competent and contributing members of society. In turn, student-mentors strengthen their dedication to the community and thoughtfully enhance their college experience. CCMP currently provides about 50 mentors who work with more than 350 youth.

How to Become a Mentor

Thank you very much for your interest in the College Community Mentoring Program. We in the Office of Citizenship and Civic Engagement and throughout campus are very excited about this service-learning opportunity and hope that you will become involved.

If you enjoy working with younger students on their homework, craft projects, recreational activities, or self-esteem, then this is the opportunity for you. We are working with an array of mentoring sites during both after-school and in-school time blocks. To learn more about each program, take a look at the mentoring site descriptions.

Information for mentee parents

The ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ is a proud member of our community and enjoys the chance to become more involved with the people and programs of the area. For ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ students interested in working with local children and youth, the College Community Mentoring Program (CCMP) provides an opportunity to mentor at in-school and after-school programs. The involvement of CCMP mentors aligns with the University’s mission of enhancing the quality of lives of students and the community it serves.

³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ is a member of the York County Mentoring Partnership and the Maine Mentoring Partnership. Through these organizations, we keep abreast of current best practices in mentoring.

To become a mentor, ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ students must complete several steps.

  1. Application Process
    • Interested ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ students complete an and interview with the CCMP coordinator. Two reference checks are conducted, a background check may also be required.
  2. Training Process
    • All student-mentors attend a two-hour mentor training session before beginning their assignments. Students learn mentoring roles, CCMP guidelines and valuable mentoring skills. Topics also include mandated reporting and child development. Midway through each term, mentors participate in a follow-up training and reflection session.
  3. Why Students Mentor at the CCMP sites
    • ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ students mentor for a number of reasons. Becoming a mentor provides a chance to connect with children, give back to the community and make a difference. Mentors may simply enjoy working with children and find a CCMP site that works with their class schedule. The CCMP mentoring experience may be used to fulfill a Citizenship 400 Seminar service-learning requirement. It may also provide an opportunity for career exploration or professional experience.
Why mentor

Mentors have experienced great things when mentoring. Some common feelings include:

  • Giving back to the community
  • Making a difference
  • Providing support to children that need it most
  • Forming strong connections with mentees
  • Exploring possible career paths
  • Deepening academic experience via service-learning
Opportunities
  • Leadership: Become a member of the CCMP Advisory Board.
  • Training: Receive training useful for mentoring and beyond.
  • Relationships: Meet other mentors, children, teachers, ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ professional staff, and leaders of the community.
Responsibilities
  • Commit one to two hours a week to mentee(s) and mentoring site for one academic year.
  • Attend a mandatory two-hour training before mentoring occurs.
  • Attend periodic reflection sessions.
  • Provide a positive role model for a child.
  • Assist mentees with academic work.
  • Join mentees in extracurricular activities.
  • Give mentee and CCMP coordinator advance notice when missing a session.
  • Do not see mentees outside of mentoring sites.
Guidelines
  1. Students who have already been in 1:1 mentoring relationships for one or more semesters may continue to mentor and include it as part of their Citizenship requirement.
  2. Students in Fall Citizenship sections may enter into 1:1 mentoring relationships, with the understanding that they must continue to mentor through the Spring semester.
  3. Students in Spring Citizenship sections may not enter into new 1:1 mentoring relationships.
  4. All Citizenship students and sections are welcome to participate in group mentoring programs.

Resources

School Sites

  • Biddeford Primary School
  • Kennebunkport Consolidated School
  • Sea Road School of Kennebunk
  • Middle School of the Kennebunks
  • Jameson School
  • Loranger Middle School
  • Old Orchard Beach High School
  • Old Orchard Alternative Education
  • The Tides Program
  • Kennebunk Elementary School
  • Saco Middle School
  • Thornton Academy