iMentor Blog

As the 2011-2012 school year gets underway, iMentor is proud to welcome three new schools, their students, and hundreds of new mentors into our New York City Program. This is an exciting year of growth, as we are also launching two new curriculum programs that focus on college success and provide clear benchmarks for successful mentoring relationships.

Our new partner schools are the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) NYC College Prep Program in Harlem; Williamsburg Prep in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; and Secondary School for Law (SSL) based in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

With the addition of these schools, and the partners we will add in the New Year, iMentor is on track to reach a total of 2,400 New York-based high school students.

“We’re excited to welcome these three schools, along with hundreds of their students, to the iMentor network and launch our two new programs to support college readiness for New York area students,” said our CEO, Mike O’Brien. “The addition of these programs is enhancing our proven mentoring model, which continues to have a positive impact on our community. We are excited to provide more mentors to help a greater number of high school students achieve high school and college success.”

iMentor’s two new college success programs, focusing on readiness and success, further strengthen iMentor’s robust high-school graduation and college preparatory programs. These programs are urgently needed, as almost half of low-income students who enroll in college will not re-enroll in the second year.

The key to helping kids succeed and implementing our programs successfully are our mentors. We are proud to have nearly 1,200 dedicated mentors returning from last year—some continuing their mentoring relationships from last year, and many meeting a new student to work with in the years ahead. We are still looking for male mentors to volunteer beginning in February at our new partner schools. Sign up or recruit someone today!

Mentor: Sameer Munshi

Length of Match: Second year of a three-year match

Mentee Name: John Z.

Mentee’s School:  Civic Leadership Academy

When Sameer Munshi stayed up late one night catching up on Facebook, he didn’t realize that one click would positively impact so many lives. Sameer saw a link to the iMentor website on an old friend’s Facebook page—someone he hadn’t talked to in years—and decided to fill out the mentoring application on an impulse. Now, a year later, he is continuing on a journey that has paired him with his mentee, John, and sent him half way around the world in support of mentoring.

Sameer and John were matched in 2010, and they discovered right away they had a lot in common. Both have parents who immigrated to America—Sameer’s from India and John’s from Ecuador. So they both had experience trying to bridge their parents’ culture and American culture in their homes. For Sameer, the connection clicked because he saw a lot of himself in John. “He’s a really bright kid and just needed that extra push and support like we all did during that age,” Sameer explains.

John is a little more direct and says that both he and Sameer have “made the same mistakes.” John appreciates that Sameer talks about those mistakes in a way that is different from how his parents talk to him. Drawing on his own experiences, Sameer helped John focus in school by showing him how to do it step by step. As a result, John made some meaningful changes in the last year—he stopped being the class clown, he started paying attention in class, and he studied for the SATs with Sameer. John says that Sameer was able to make a difference because, “Mentors are more realistic. Parents are more idealistic.”

In addition to being an outstanding mentor, Sameer has been a leader among iMentor’s volunteers. Sameer was recently nominated for the Bank of America Volunteer Award for spearheading volunteer recruitment efforts at Bank of America. He set up an information table outside the cafeteria at his office and personally recruited more than 20 volunteers to join iMentor. Sameer’s volunteerism with iMentor and relationship with John even inspired Sameer to become engaged with social issues around the world. Last year, he traveled to India, where he helped a youth council in a rural village start their own mentoring program.

Sameer feels that volunteering with iMentor gives him satisfaction and pushes him to do more because, “you are building a bond, and can actually see that you are making a difference. It makes all the effort you put in worthwhile.”  

Ready to get involved? Become a Mentor Today.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten? That’s the question Katie Couric poses to contributors to her book about leadership and mentoring. Her personal commitment to mentoring is the reason we asked her to join us at our fall Benefit Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental, New York on October 26. And you can join us too by purchasing your ticket today.

This year’s benefit will host our community of supporters and mentor-mentee pairs from our New York City program. The night will feature dinner, inspiring iMentor success stories, and a special conversation, led by Katie Couric, about how the consistent, positive influence of a mentor can help kids across the country graduate high school and succeed in college.

Join us for this special evening by purchasing a ticket or sponsoring a table. Or, make a tax-deductible contribution to iMentor today.

Anyone who has been through the college application process knows how daunting it can be to write college essays, fill out financial aid forms, and make the decisions that can impact the rest of their academic career. iMentor wants to make sure our mentees don’t have to make these important decisions alone. That is why we host the juniors in our New York City program at special events to work one-on-one with their mentors to plan their application process. And this year, Groupon has decided to help.

Today, we announced with G-Team, the philanthropic arm of Groupon, a campaign to raise funds to host iMentor’s Kickoff to College events for juniors. Today through Thursday, September 29, Groupon subscibers and iMentor supporters can contribute to our Kickoff to College events in increments of $10. If just 60 donors give $10 each, iMentor will be able to host 100 students and their mentors for an evening of college planning. At these events, our dedicated mentors will work with students to research colleges, explore scholarship opportunities, and plan financial aid. Additional donations will allow iMentor to support more students, ensuring that our mentees have the tools they need to make informed decisions about college.

The Kickoff to College events are just one aspect of our robust mentoring program, which is serving 2,400 New York City high school students this fall. Visit our Groupon campaign page and help us spread the word!