Chester’s Mentoring Initiative

february 2022 Meeting Highlights

Those of you who joined Chester's Mentoring Initiative in February 2022 were witness to an inspiring conversation about presenting our young people (of all ages) with visions of their positive and productive futures.

Our main speaker was Chester High School '91 alum Aaron Riley. (Scroll beyond these notes for his bio, contact info and a follow-up note that he asked me to share.) Aaron was a C/D student on a potentially harmful life path, and felt that HS guidance counselors were focused on more talented students. He took the ASVAB (military entrance exam) simply to get out of class. Losing many friends to violence and drugs, he pursued the military and it rewarded him greatly. Based on his experiences, he wants us all to engage overlooked students and present them with encouraging options.

Following are contributions from a variety of meeting participants.

"You don't have to be an A student to succeed. C students can be nurses, police officers, etc and they may not know it."

"Today's youth often think short-term: what's the quickest way to get paid. Let's show them options that have both short- and long-term benefits."

"Personality questionnaires can point out strengths that can inspire career options - but so can a student's peers. Students of any age could be asked to name the skills and talents of their classmates. That can boost self-esteem and help get students on a path to apply those skills to a productive future. The earlier the better! For example, skills developed playing video games can lead to technology careers. People who love playing with kids could go into education. Folks good at talking could be introduced to sales careers. Etc."

"Let's get students career-mapping: What do you need to do to achieve your career goal? What steps are required? How can we help you stay focused on them?"

Many of Aaron's friends believed they were ineligible for military service because of criminal records. Eric Bayne ebayne@chestercity.com points us all to the Re-Entry Partnership which helps such folks become more employable and trains them in high-need employment fields: https://www.reentryprograms.com/go/chester-county-reentry

Jean-Pierre Brice unclep@cmpradio.net hosts interns at his radio station, shining the light on opportunities to learn skills in broadcast, graphic design, etc.

Angie Johnson of The Boys & Girls Club ajohnson@boysgirlsclubchester.com intends to use the club's "Power Hour" to host a career fair. Katrina Robinson of The Red Cross katrina.robinson@redcross.org offered to help, and others are welcome to join the planning committee too. Plans are coming together at https://www.youthdevunited.org/career-discovery

The Wright Legacy serves to excite, inspire and energize underrepresented youth interested in pursuing a career in law. Find them at https://www.thewrightlegacy.org/

Anyone 14+ can work with Chester Upland Youth Soccer to receive free referee training and get paid to work at weekend games, potentially kicking off a career (or second income) in youth sports.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfmzf4LseSPg6dl1XlbfWLGQMl4wVJILQnsq7oXQJqX2ngsGw/viewform

Gerry Gonzalez of Child Guidance suggests we all engage with DARN: https://www.facebook.com/groups/delcoarearesourcenetwork/about

Kath Cloran encourages us to learn from the messages of Anthony Ray Hinton
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ray-of-hope-a-conversation-about-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-tickets-262277628447

Our next meeting will be March 11 at 10am, featuring Chester Councilman Stefan Roots. As the new head of the Chester City recreation department, he will inspire us to envision new opportunities for Chester's parks.

From Aaron Riley:

“Greetings Everyone, it was a pleasure to hear the passion that you all have about providing opportunities to Chester, I am grateful to be able to link up with any and all of you.  I will try to make myself available for events that you plan.  I live in Manassas VA (2.5 hours away from Chester) but, taking a day off to help anyone is no problem.  Again, thank you.    I provided my military BIO, in case anyone has any questions.  I can be reached at Aaron.riley31@gmail.com.”