Roane Alliance looking for mentors
Every year, Roane County needs approximately 100 mentors for its graduating high school seniors who apply for Tennessee Promise Scholarships. What makes the Tennessee Promise college scholarship program so successful are the mentors.
What is so amazing is that mentors usually commit only 10 hours annually to make their significant contributions and change lives for the better.
Mentors encourage and guide students so they successfully transition from high school to college. The students may use the Tennessee Promise scholarship to attend a Tennessee College of Applied Technology or community college and graduate with a degree, certification and/or license.
The economic impact of Tennessee Promise and its mentors for individuals and their communities is tremendous. Each year, almost $100,000 in financial aid from this program goes to the graduates of Roane County’s five high schools.
When they graduate, someone with a two-year college degree earns approximately $250,000 more in their lifetime than a high school graduate.
That can change a community, a life, and future generations of a family for the better.
As a mentor, your role is critical for several reasons. First, you encourage students and let them know they are going to college. Almost 60 percent of the past program participants are first-generation college students; the majority also came from low income families.
Second, students need to know that someone is invested in them and that someone cares about their success. You might be the first person to ever take an active interest in their academic career.
Please volunteer to be a mentor; submit your application at https://tnachieves.org/mentors/apply.
For more information contact Allen Lutz, Education and Workforce Development Specialist for the Roane Alliance, at 376-2093 or alutz@roanealliance.org.