Members of the University and Charlottesville communities will meet at a conference tomorrow in order to discuss new mentoring programs and find ways to improve existing ones.
The conference will "bring together a wide variety of community leaders ... to share ideas about best practices in mentoring," Madison House Assoc. Director David Norris said. Madison House provides several mentoring programs to Charlottesville youth.
The conference will feature a number of speakers, workshops and discussions in which the participants will work to "lay out concrete steps" to improve both the quantity and quality of mentorship programs in the Albemarle and Charlottesville areas, Norris said.
Though there has been no formal study conducted to assess the need for mentoring in the area, "at Madison House we are flooded with calls from parents and counselors who want to find programs and we are unable to supply, so we have been able to identify the need," he said.
Five University programs will be represented at the conference - Madison House Big Sibling, ABLE, Young Women Leaders, Bio-Tech Academic Mentors and the Science Fair Mentoring Program.
The conference also will feature a presentation by two University students, Michael Altberg and April Park. The two will give an overview "Mentorville," the Web site they designed.
"The Web site contains different mentoring programs in the Charlottesville area ... and provides a way for people to register or contact the organizations," Altberg said.
Norris said he hopes the conference will improve communication and coordination between people working with children.
He said mentoring helps students in the programs achieve academic success and raises their self-esteem.
"What an impact somebody can have on a child in just one or two hours a week," Norris said.
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