Orientation of Volunteer Mentors/motivating and inspiring teens

The orientation process can be used as an opportunity to gather a group of potential mentors together to introduce them to your program. It will tend to be a relaxed, informal gathering, during which time you might show a video or DVD which gives mentors more of an insight into the way your program operates.

It would be a positive experience for participants if you arranged a fun activity aimed at having the group to introduce themselves to one another.

Key areas that tend to be covered in a well organized orientation program would include:

Information about the program which would include a mission statement and vision statement.
An outline of program policies and procedures, which would involve informing the mentors about the screening procedure, which might involve all of or some of the following:

A Police Check
A Child, Youth and Family Services Check
A Police Check
At least two Reference Checks
A General Practitioner's note to say the Mentor is able to undertake a mentoring role from a health viewpoint
A pre-training and post training interview.

An outline of the matching process and the role of the mentee's family during the mentoring relationship.
Expectations of the role and responsibilities of the mentors and mentees: this will include the length of time the mentor is expected to spend with a mentee each month, ideas of activities they can do together, ways to keep in touch and so on.
Expectations of program staff as far as the mentors are concerned.
The importance of reporting procedures during the mentoring journey.
The ongoing training and supervision of mentors being carried out by program staff.
A brief outline of the qualities of effective mentors and some of the results of global research with regard to benefits for mentors and mentees.
An opportunity to stress the professionalism of the organization eg, the Exit Interview when a mentoring relationship either breaks down or formally ends.
Where possible have a mentor or a panel of mentors to share their experiences and answer questions from the potential mentors.
At the end of the presentation, those wishing to put their names forward as potential volunteer adult mentors, could be given all the application forms to complete and return to Program Staff, as well as Program Staff business cards and contact details.

The above format could be adapted for a Mentee orientation gathering, which would include the mentee's parents or caregiver.


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	Orientation The orientation process can be used as an opportunity to gather a group of potential mentors together to introduce them to your program. It will tend to be a relaxed, informal gathering, during which time you might show a video or DVD which gives mentors more of an insight into the way your program operates. It would be a positive experience for participants if you arranged a fun activity aimed at having the group to introduce themselves to one another. Key areas that tend to be covered in a well organized orientation program would include: Information about the program which would include a mission statement and vision statement. An outline of program policies and procedures, which would involve informing the mentors about the screening procedure, which might involve all of or some of the following: A Police Check A Child, Youth and Family Services Check A Police Check At least two Reference Checks A General Practitioner's note to say the Mentor is able to undertake a mentoring role from a health viewpoint A pre-training and post training interview. An outline of the matching process and the role of the mentee's family during the mentoring relationship. Expectations of the role and responsibilities of the mentors and mentees: this will include the length of time the mentor is expected to spend with a mentee each month, ideas of activities they can do together, ways to keep in touch and so on. Expectations of program staff as far as the mentors are concerned. The importance of reporting procedures during the mentoring journey. The ongoing training and supervision of mentors being carried out by program staff. A brief outline of the qualities of effective mentors and some of the results of global research with regard to benefits for mentors and mentees. An opportunity to stress the professionalism of the organization eg, the Exit Interview when a mentoring relationship either breaks down or formally ends. Where possible have a mentor or a panel of mentors to share their experiences and answer questions from the potential mentors. At the end of the presentation, those wishing to put their names forward as potential volunteer adult mentors, could be given all the application forms to complete and return to Program Staff, as well as Program Staff business cards and contact details. The above format could be adapted for a Mentee orientation gathering, which would include the mentee's parents or caregiver. \| Statement of Purpose and a Long Range Plan \| Recruiting Volunteer Mentors \| Orientation of Volunteer Mentors \| Screening of Volunteer Mentors \| Training Volunteer Mentors \| Matching Mentors with Mentees \| Monitoring Mentors and Mentees \| Support, Recognition and Retention of Mentors \| Closure of Mentoring Relationship \| Evaluation of Mentoring Relationships \| Quick Checklist of an Effective Mentoring Program \| Mentor Training Program \| \| Return Home \| Meet Robin \| Setting up a Mentoring Program \| Mentor \| Gen Y2Z Teacher-Mentors \| Peer Mentor \| GR8MATES program Blog \| Blog 4 Parents and Teenagers \| Robin's Great Links \| Contact Robin \|