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| Wilson pushes Mentoring Programs in Albuquerque, encourages Business Involvement |
February 04, 2002 |
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‘Mentorship doesn’t end with the passing of National Mentoring Month’
Washington, DC-Congresswoman Heather Wilson wants to see more New Mexico businesses and individuals commit to mentoring high school students and, at the same time, is looking for students interested in serving an internship in her Albuquerque Congressional office. Wilson met today with high school students at Albuquerque High School and Rudy Garcia, the Mentoring Chairman of the New Mexico West Texas Optimist International District.
The end of January marks the end of National Mentoring Month, but Wilson hopes to see a continued focus on working with children in New Mexico throughout the year. Wilson is asking interested high school students to apply for internship opportunities in her Albuquerque office, where students are paired with staff members and learn basic office skills.
“I’ve seen mentoring make a difference,” said Wilson. “With the recent passage of the Leave No Child Behind Act, we’ve substantially increased our financial investment in education, and we’ve given parents and teachers the flexibility to meet our kids’ needs. But our investment in our kids shouldn’t end there. I encourage everybody in New Mexico to reach out to a child. Teach him or her what you know and how to be a responsible adult. We can all be a part of the solution.”
Many children throughout the United States face difficult circumstances in their lives and a relationship with a caring and responsible adult can be life-changing. Through mentoring, kids can develop an improvement in school attendance and academic achievement, decreased substance abuse, and reduced violent behavior.
The International Optimist Club, says Garcia, is focusing their efforts on a new mentoring program that seeks to recruit 1 million mentors nationally through the five largest community service organizations, including Kiwanis International, Lions International, Rotary International, Big Brothers and Sisters of America and Optimist International.
“Working directly with young people like this validates the Optimist Mission: “Bringing out the best in kids,” says Garcia, who was an educator in New Mexico for the last 33 years. “Our service to youth is critical to the future everywhere in the world.”
As part of a mentoring program called Albuquerque’s Promise-the local spin-off to America’s Promise-Albuquerque area business and community organizations have been asked to make promises of activities, programs, or projects which fall within one or more of these five categories:
an ongoing relationship with a caring adult
a safe place with structured activities during non-school hours
a healthy start
a marketable skill through effective education
an opportunity to give back through community service
Wilson pledged to develop an internship program in her Albuquerque office for high school students to give them an opportunity to learn about government and service to the community. In the nearly three years since its inception, 73 high school students have served in Wilson’s office in Albuquerque. These students assist with drafting letters, database maintenance, constituent services, research, and maintaining Wilson’s website and weekly e-newsletter.
“One of the best ways to gain practical experience in the working world is through an internship,” said Wilson. “Not only does it give a young student a chance to learn about serving people, it also gives them invaluable experience for getting their first job.”
Students interested in serving an internship in Wilson’s office can find more information at http://wilson.house.gov/Services.asp or by calling Wilson’s Albuquerque office at 505-346-6781.
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