Back-to-School 2024: Gwinnett County Public Schools seeks volunteers for mentoring program

     The Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) Community-Based Mentoring Program is looking for 150 community volunteers to mentor students for the 2024-25 school year.

     Now in its 15th year, the program pairs mentors with boys and girls in grades 4-12. James Rayford, Director of the GCPS Community-Based Mentoring Program, and his staff are working with business and community leaders to recruit mentors and obtain financial resources to sustain the program, which aims to serve more than 1,000 students this year.  “I’m proud of the community mentors who have consistently shown up to make an impact in our students’ lives,” says Rayford. “They gave our student mentees something priceless: their time. When a student mentee shares how they have benefited from having a mentor, it is very rewarding. Earlier this summer, a mentor shared that he still communicates with his mentee four years after graduating high school.”

     The program believes in the Power of One: one caring adult can impact a child’s life. The initiative builds community connections and a sense of belonging, one relationship at a time. “Our goal is to invest in more students to ensure all who need support receive it in the form of an adult mentor,” Rayford adds. Volunteer mentors can choose to participate in one-on-one or small-group mentoring. Mentoring provides enhanced communication skills, confidence, problem-solving abilities, increased motivation and accountability, professional networking opportunities, and college and career preparation.

For more information about the Community-Based Mentoring Program, call 678-301-7936 or visit the Community-Based Mentoring Program webpage.