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have people with different life experiences so students can draw on their wisdom and learn some of the skills that help them be successful. Glynis We don’t have a direct program of mentorship at Hill Learning Center. We have students from 72 different schools this year, and
the majority of them are public schools. We know, for our students particularly, that’s a real challenge for them, not just to manage two schools, but also to self-advocate in terms of who they are and what their learning strengths or learning needs are. We need programs in the area that we can depend on for [mentoring] support, especially when we’re sending them back to [their home] school. It’s good to know that they have access to other programs in the Durham area. Atrayus I’ve been a part of mentoring for most of my life. Having a
mentor when I was growing up helped me navigate some pretty significant life challenges. I understand the importance of having that person who helps you understand what it is you can do in life. In our agency, we don’t do direct service mentoring. We mentor the mentors and the mentoring organizations to help them be better at what they do; [we] build capacity. durhammag.com
Elena As a community-based
organization that works really closely with Durham Public Schools, we’re able to provide supportive mentorship via a [mentorship] pipeline from middle school all the way through college. We want to make sure that students are both receiving support from mentors and also showing their brilliance to community members so they see the power of our youth. A [major facet] is our high school program, where students are paired with a staff member who supports them and can do some of that connecting work. The reason [mentoring] matters to us is that we believe heavily in a village [approach].
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Why does mentoring youth in Durham matter to you and your organization? LaVerne Mentoring is one of those things where it is really important to
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B Y AN N A- RHESA VERSOLA PHOTOG RAPHY B Y J OHN M I C H A EL S I M PS O N
complex ecosystem of educational resources in Durham serves an estimated 50,000 students in 95 different schools, public and private. Mentoring programs inside and outside of halls of learning can help more students achieve success, especially among marginalized and disadvantaged youth. Durham Magazine invited five leaders in roles closely related to mentoring to share their insights and perspectives on nurturing the full potential of students in our community.
Responses have been edited and condensed for length and clarity*
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A roundtable discussion on the importance of mentoring youth in Durham
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october/november 2023
Casey We view ourselves as a systems organization. We work with
myriad programs in Durham to identify gaps or barriers and help fix or address them in some way. [Mentoring] has been an essential missing piece [in enabling children] to participate and become productive citizens of Durham. Mentoring is really, really high on our list. What mentoring resources do we have in Durham right now? What resources do you want to see added? Atrayus Several agencies are doing work in pockets and silos. There
hasn’t been a really coordinated effort to help understand what the barriers to collaboration and partnership are. There has to be a way to bring them together to share resources and best practices, so we can all be better at the work we do. Casey The North Carolina Biotechnology Center, which represents
life science companies in the Triangle, is really interested in a program to produce talent, especially diverse talent. … We just launched a professional learning community of eight community-based organizations – Durham Children’s Initiative, Durham Literacy Center,