Mentoring Program

The CES Mentoring Program is a school based mentoring program at Cambridge Elementary School located in the town in Jeffersonville, Vermont - serving children in the villages of Cambridge and Jeffersonville. 

The CES Mentoring Program is part of Mentor Vermont. The adults from the community, Vermont State University, and surrounding areas mentor a child once a week for about an hour. The mentoring hour could be before school, after school or during the student’s lunch/recess time. Matches meet on the same day and time when school is in session on school grounds. The time is determined by the mentor and student availability so the student does not miss academics. Mentors and mentees (students) are matched according to interests and personality. We feel all children benefit from having a mentor. Student mentees may be referred to the program by a parent, staff or self-referred.

Mentors must attend a Mentoring 101 training prior to being matched with a student. Mentors are supported by the CES Mentoring Coordinator and the CES guidance counselor as needed. Mentors and students may eat breakfast, lunch or snack together. They may read together, do research projects, write poetry, drama or stories, play board games, card games, do arts and crafts, (color, draw, paint, pastels) play sporting games (shoot hoops, play toss and catch, lacrosse, football, soccer, golf putting, bike ride, x-country ski, snowshoe) do projects (sewing, knitting, collages), build with Legos, magnets or wood structures. The mentor and mentee decide what they want to do together each week. The focus is to build a relationship of trust to promote the self esteem of the child. They do not meet during school vacations. The CES Mentoring Program offers a few group wide mentoring field trips off school grounds together throughout the school year via school bus transportation. There is a culmination mentoring celebration at the end of the school year for families, students and mentors to celebrate the mentoring relationships.

Type of mentoring relationships: School-Based (Youth-Adult)
Age range of youth participants: 5 - 13
Minimum age to be a mentor in this program: 18
Minimum length of time commitment for mentors: 1 school year
Minimum regular contact time between mentor and mentee: 1 hour a week

For more information contact the CES Mentoring Coordinator:

Santha Dahlin
802-521-5670
ces.mentoring@lnsd.org