Tennessee is about 2,000 short of the 9,400 mentors needed to cover the number of students who applied for the Tennessee Promise, Gov. Haslam said recently.
Potential mentors will be given longer than the previously stated Nov. 1 deadline that students faced to apply for the program. And until officials see how many students enter the program, the number of mentors ultimately needed could be much lower.
If only 12,000 students use the Tennessee Promise, the state would have enough mentors already to guide them through the process. People are being asked to invest 10-15 hours annually assisting five to 10 high school seniors with post-secondary success. They must be 21 or older and go through a background check to participate.
Mentors must attend January and March team meetings and contact students once every two weeks from the following January through December. In addition, they must reach out to parents/guardians, if possible, remind students of all meetings and deadlines, and attend team meetings.
A mentor’s job is to encourage students to reach their potential and to play an active role in eliminating barriers to attending college and succeeding.
They’ll also be asked to assist students with community service opportunities and share personal experiences to lessen the intimidation of going to college.