Mentoring conference to be held Jan. 28 at Monticello High School

Making a difference in the lives of children and families through mentoring will be the focus of a conference Jan. 28 at Monticello High School. Through workshops, panel discussions and guest lectures, a wide cross-section of community leaders will discuss the programs that are already successful and what needs remain unmet, with the goal of developing a community action plan.

The day-long meeting, sponsored by U.Va.'s Madison House, the Weed and Seed Network and United Way, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The summit is free to participants, thanks to support from Virginia Power. Breakout sessions will cover research on effective mentoring, and religious-based and school-based programs in the Richmond as well as Charlottesville areas. A session on U.Va. student mentoring programs will look at Madison House's Big Siblings, BioTech Academic Mentors, the Science Fair Mentoring Program and the Women's Center's Young Women Leaders. Other community programs such as Hope Partners and Teensight, TeensGive and the Region 10 Youth Council, which target families and teens, will also be showcased.

"There are a lot of kids and a lot of families in this area who could benefit from having more mentors and positive role models in their lives," says Dave Norris, Associate Director of Madison House. "Mentoring programs connect caring volunteers with children and families who are going through tough times or just need a listening ear. This summit will hopefully spur our community to work closer together to expand both the quantity and quality of mentoring relationships for folks in our area."

A new online guide to area youth mentoring programs, "Mentorville," will be presented at the summit. Created by two U.Va. students, April Park and Michael Altberg, in assistant commerce professor Kathy Chudoba's Web marketing class, the web site will be a clearinghouse of resources for mentoring. See www.avenue.org/mentorville.

Launched in conjunction with the summit, a new e-mail discussion forum, "CvilleMentors," has been created to help continue the conversations and idea-sharing after the summit is over. Anyone who is involved in the field of youth or family mentoring, and wishes to participate in an ongoing discussion of ideas & insights in mentoring, can subscribe to CvilleMentors by sending a blank e-mail to: cvillementors-subscribe@egroups.com.

For information, contact Norris at 977-7051 or dmn4n@virginia.edu or go to www.virginia.edu/~madison/events.htm