Mentoring Program

The CIS Mentoring Program is for students in the Federal Way School District. Students who may be struggling in elementary to high school are referred in order to increase their academic performance and commitment to completing their education.

The CIS Mentoring Program currently serves 78 students in 10 schools in the Federal Way School District. Mentors meet with students in the schools for 45 minutes to one hour per week for at least one school year.

We recruit and train mentors for the program throughout the year. If you would like to receive more information or are interested in being a mentor, you can contact CIS Mentor Program Coordinator Talya Silver by phone at 253-528-0847 or by email at talyas@federalwaychamber.com.

Download Mentor Application Instructions
Download Mentor Application

What Makes the CIS Mentoring Program Different from Other Mentoring Programs?

Mentor Duration: Only approximately half of the mentoring relationships established through formal mentoring programs last beyond a few months (Rhodes, 2002).

• In the CIS Mentoring Program, over 75% of the mentoring matches that we have made so far are still matched.
  

• Unlike many mentoring programs, the CIS Program expands into the schools within the Federal Way School District that our mentees transfer to, in order to allow all of our matches to continue meeting.

School-based mentoring matches last an average of 5 months (Herrera, Grossman, Kauh, Feldman, & McMaken, 2007).

• The average duration of the mentoring matches in the CIS Program, including those currently matched and those whose matches ended, is 10 months.

Mentoring relationships often end as the result of the volunteers feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or unappreciated (Rhodes, 2002).

• Of the mentoring relationships that do end in the CIS Mentoring Program, most end due to factors such as the student moving, leaving the school (expulsion, transfer to internet schooling), or at the student’s request.

Why is Mentoring Duration Important?

Research on the effects of mentoring show that mentoring is associated with improvements in academics, decreases in risky behaviors, and an overall enhancement of social and emotional development (Dubois and Neville, 1997; Rhodes, 2002). Further, mentees whose matches last 9-12 months or more have shown significant increases in measures of self-worth, perceived social acceptance, perceived academic competence, school value, and decreases in both drug and alcohol use (Grossman and Rhodes, 2002; Murrows and Styles 1995).

However, when relationships end within the first three months they have the potential to do harm to mentees. Grossman and Rhodes found that mentees whose mentoring relationship ended before 3 months “suffered significant declines in their global self-worth and their perceived scholastic competence” (2002).

THE MENTEES' PERSPECTIVES

Mentors in the CIS Mentoring Program are very important people in the lives of their mentees. Here are some things that our mentees have said about their mentors:

• “You are the nicest mentor ever. You are like a mom to me. You talk to me when I need someone to talk to.” – 8th grade girl, CIS Mentor Program
  
• “Thanks for everything. I hope I grow up to be successful like you.” -- 6th grade boy, CIS Mentor Program
  
• “There are no words to say to describe you or what you mean to me. You are amazing. I don’t know what I would do without you.” --8th grade girl, CIS Mentor Program
  
• “I appreciate everything you do for me. Thank you for being the best mentor ever.” – 8th grade boy, CIS Mentor Program
  
• “At first I was just going to use this program to cut a few classes, but I’m glad I kept with this because you turned out to be a good mentor and also a good friend.” -- 9th grade boy, CIS Mentor Program
  
• “You’re amazing. You’ve been my mentor since 6th grade. I hope I can still see you while I’m in high school. Honestly, you’re my safety net. And you’ve always been there for me. Even when stars die, friends will never fade.” -- 8th grade girl, CIS Mentor Program