PUEBLO, CO– The United Way of Pueblo County Middle School Mentoring Program recently completed phase one of the National Quality Mentoring System (NQMS), receiving “Step 1: Initiated in NQMS” designation.
The Program, now in its tenth year, serves eight Pueblo schools and is committed to meeting quality standards for mentoring that are safe and effective. United Way of Pueblo County follows nationally recognized best practices established by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, to support quality youth mentoring relationships. To achieve these standards, United Way’s Middle School Mentoring Program has initiated NQMS, a national continuous quality improvement process for mentoring programs.
Mentoring programs participating in NQMS complete a 92-question self-assessment and extensive review facilitated by a local MENTOR affiliate. The phase one designation is received after an improvement plan is developed along with achievable goals designed to enhance the quality of programming and alignment with mentoring best practices. Visit www.mentoring.org/resource/national-quality-mentoring-system for details.
“This experience has been a beneficial opportunity to celebrate our achievements over the past ten years and develop strategies for expanded national standards alignment,” said Tanya Simental, mentoring and youth engagement manager. “The work is ongoing, and we look forward to strengthening our capacity to serve mentors and mentees.”
The Program is currently seeking new volunteer mentors for the 2022-2023 school year; applications are open through September 1. Interested individuals can visit www.pueblounitedway.org/mentor or contact the Program Manager at 719-225-8580, option 2, for additional details.
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About the United Way of Pueblo County Middle School Mentoring Program
A pilot program was launched in 2012 at Heaton Middle School aimed at pairing nurturing adults as positive mentors to 6th grade students. The program, based off a successful program in Vermont “Let’s Do Lunch,” asks mentors to give one hour a week of their time. Over 50 students from Heaton Middle School, Pueblo Academy of Arts, Risley International Academy of Innovation, Roncalli STEM Academy, Liberty Point International Middle School, Vineland Middle School, and District 60 and 70 Online connect with their mentors at school on a weekly basis for an hour during lunch.
About United Way of Pueblo County
United Way of Pueblo County (UWPC) serves as a trusted community leader by leveraging resources in support of collaborative solutions. Annually, UWPC works with more than 55 different health and human programs. In addition to valuable community partnerships, United Way of Pueblo County also operates the United Way Middle School Mentoring Program, Pueblo Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA), and Bank On Pueblo County. Visit UWPC’s website – www.pueblounitedway.org and social media pages - @unitedwayofpueblocounty for additional info and to find out how you can help through giving or volunteering.