Funding is now available to Maine schools to offer a Teen Trendsetters™ program for their students.
Teen Trendsetters™ Reading Mentors is a hands-on, award-winning mentor program that helps first graders boost their reading skills, reading scores and confidence in learning. Meanwhile, teens are the true champions of this volunteer program, spending one-on-one time each week with their young mentees to learn and bond over books. Since the inception of the program in 2002 over 40,000 teens and elementary students have paired up to become better readers. These outstanding teens have logged over 314,000 volunteer hours and their mentees have received over 230,000 books for the children’s at home library.
On average, participating first grades started seven months behind their peers in reading but grew more than a grade level through the program. Meanwhile, teen mentors have a 96 percent graduation rate and 82 percent go on to college.
Through a grant from the Gorman Foundation, the Barbara Bush Foundation is inviting Maine schools to inquire about starting a Teen Trendsetters™ program. Participating schools will be provided all materials by the Barbara Bush Foundation, including mentor guides, mentee workbooks covering three science related topic areas and more than 15 Scholastic readers.
For more information, visit www.barbarabush.org or email Becky Dyer at becky.dyer@barbarabush.org.