SENATE MEMORIAL 9

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

William P. Soules

A MEMORIAL

PROCLAIMING JANUARY 2017 AS "NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH" IN THE SENATE.

     WHEREAS, in 2002, the Harvard T. H. Chan school of public health and MENTOR: the national mentoring partnership, created national mentoring month; and

     WHEREAS, the goals of national mentoring month are to raise awareness of mentoring, recruit individuals to mentor and encourage organizations to engage and integrate quality mentoring into their efforts; and

     WHEREAS, a mentor is a caring, consistent presence who devotes time to a young person to help that young person discover personal strength and achieve his or her potential through a structured and trusting relationship; and

     WHEREAS, quality mentoring encourages positive choices, promotes self-esteem, supports academic achievement and introduces young people to new ideas; and

     WHEREAS, mentoring programs have been shown to be effective in combating school violence and discipline problems, substance abuse, incarceration and truancy; and

     WHEREAS, research shows that young people who are at risk for not completing high school but who had a mentor were fifty-five percent more likely to be enrolled in college, eighty-one percent more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities, more than twice as likely to say that they held a leadership position in a club or on a sports team and seventy-eight percent more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities; and

     WHEREAS, youth development experts agree that mentoring is critical to social, emotional and cognitive development, helping youth navigate the path to adulthood more successfully; and

     WHEREAS, mentors help young people set career goals and use their personal contacts to help young people meet industry professionals and find jobs; and

     WHEREAS, mentoring is a proven cost-effective investment whereby, for every one dollar ($1.00) invested, there is a three-dollar ($3.00) return to society; and

     WHEREAS, all of these benefits serve to link youth to economic opportunity while also strengthening the fiber of their communities;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the month of January 2017 be proclaimed "National Mentoring Month" in the senate; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the people of New Mexico be encouraged to recognize the importance of mentoring, to look for opportunities to serve as mentors in their communities and to observe national mentoring month with appropriate activities and programs.

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