MEGA

 

Our Guest Speaker for the May 10 meeting was Greg Cummings, who spoke on the MEGA Mentors Program.  MEGA Mentors is a nonprofit organization that operates as an initiative of the Chesterfield Education Foundation.  It is a volunteer organization comprising over 100 volunteers who support over 500 students in seven Chesterfield County Schools.

The MEGA Mentors mission statement is:  “To make a positive, measurable difference in the lives of African American and other underrepresented students in the Chesterfield County Public School System”

Their goals are:
• Provide group and/or one-on-one mentoring
• Provide structured classroom and one-on-one tutoring servicesIncrease awareness of higher education and career opportunities for students and parents
• Teach the values of RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, EFFORT and ACHIEVEMENT

The organization was founded in the fall of 2009 when Dr. Marcus Newsome, Superintendent of Chesterfield County Schools, asked a few community leaders, including our own Pete Stith, to participate as mentors to close the achievement gap, especially with African American males. Since then, the organization has grown exponentially in terms of volunteers, students and programming.

MEGA Mentors now serves male and female students in its mentoring programs that teach the basic values of RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, EFFORT and ACHIEVEMENT. These core values are imbedded in over 75 lesson plan guides developed by MEGA Mentors and friends of MEGA.

How Can You Help Make a Difference?

1) Mentor a student one-on-one (as schedule permits, but at least three hours a month)
2) One-on-One tutoring of a student (as schedule permits, but at least three hours a month)
3) Guest speaker at a mentoring or life skills session (as schedule permits, 45 minutes to an hour)
4) Group tutor at Carver Middle School (2:15 – 4 p.m. every Tuesday)
5) Work on various organizational committees that fit your skill set (as your schedule permits)
6) Mentor and Life Skills Program (minimum two hours a month during the academic year) at the following schools:

✦ Carver Career and Technical Academy
✦ Carver Middle School
✦ Chesterfield Technical Center Hull Street Campus
✦ Falling Creek Middle School
✦ Manchester Middle School
✦ Meadowbrook High School
✦ Providence Middle School