Conference Inspires Staff Member

At the recent National Mentoring Summit, various organizations congregated in Washington, D.C. to learn from one another. These included mentoring organizations like PCHAS as well as companies implementing the idea of mentorship into their daily regime. It was a privilege to hear colleagues in a variety of fields share insights into how they recruit, train and match mentors. Each opportunity, whether a formal lecture or group dialogue, fostered important conversations with the aim of achieving exemplary mentoring practices.

One breakout session addressed how to implement The Strengths Model. Our Elevate Mentoring program at PCHAS operates through this model, because it draws on a mentee’s strengths to determine how to achieve goals. This session focused on seeking the strengths of our mentors, not only to improve retention, but also to demonstrate the expectation of cultivating strengths in the youth we serve.

Another breakout session focused on partnering with companies to arrange internships based on career interests. For our program, we have students who are in their last years of high school and are thinking towards the future. Such partnerships could be an exceptional avenue for mentees to develop goals that continue past the program. They could create a long-lasting mindset of goal development and achievement.

I was encouraged to see that mentoring is taking hold as a profession in the corporate sector as well as education, hospitality, mental health and other fields. Here at PCHAS, we pay and train mentors to help children deal constructively with their frustrations, disappointments and school and family issues. I came back even more inspired to continue lifting up children and building better communities. 

Tom Morton, M. Div., is the Elevate Mentoring coordinator in Temple, Texas. Learn about the program here or Contact Us for more information.