National Mentoring Month :: What IS a Mentor?

The Drug-Free Coalition of Tippecanoe County supports and believes in the mission of the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Lafayette. They have an excellent program that helps hundreds of kids in Tippecanoe County. The following definitions of mentoring are from their website::

• the word "mentor" comes from the Greek language and means "wise guide"
• traditionally, a mentor was an older, more experienced person, who became responsible for grooming a younger person to fill a role
• since the Middle Ages, job skills have been taught in a master/apprentice relationship, e.g. a silversmith teaching a young person the skill of silversmithing
  
• apprenticeships continue today with young people learning a trade or job skills from those more experienced than themselves
• someone who mentors an adolescent takes on a more challenging role than the master/apprentice relationship. A mentor will, hopefully, be both a friend and a role model to the mentee at a time in his/her life when the influence of adults is of the utmost importance.

We encourage you to contact the staff at Big Brothers Big Sisters to learn about ways you can get involved in the lives of our youth. Email them at info@bbbslaf.org.