Posted on February 13, 2024 by eporter
Mentoring Central President Presents at the 2024 National Mentoring Summit
Mentoring Central President Dr. Janis Kupersmidt co-led a workshop at the 14th annual National Mentoring Summit in Washington, DC, last month to discuss the need for additional training for mentors who are serving youth impacted by substance misuse.
Posted on January 19, 2024 by eporter
Mentoring Central Welcomes New Research Intern
Mentoring Central is pleased to welcome Abbey Collins to its team of skilled, world-renowned researchers and creative professionals. Collins joined Mentoring Central, a division of iRT, this month as a research intern to contribute to the research and development of high-quality mentor trainings on topics related to cultural competency.
Posted on January 17, 2024 by eporter
Mentor Training for Supporting Mentees During the Nationwide Addiction Crisis
The national opioid crisis has grown exponentially since 2020, possibly due to reduced access to interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic and the mental health crisis that followed. During a 12-month period between 2022 and 2023, the number of drug overdose deaths in the United States reached a record-high of approximately 109,000.1 In addition, trends in substance use have evolved in recent years, making it increasingly difficult to thwart the addiction crisis. Polysubstance use has become increasingly common, with rates of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl use rising alongside opioid use. Recent data has shown that 70-80% of people who are addicted to opioids also use other illicit substances.2
Posted on December 20, 2023 by eporter
Plan My Ride Receives a LearnX Award for Best Accessibility
iRT is pleased to announce that it received the 2023 Diamond Award from LearnX® for Best Accessibility in the Best eLearning Design category for the Plan My Ride eLearning course.
Posted on December 19, 2023 by eporter
STEM Mentors and Mentoring Program Staff Report Satisfaction with New Mentor Training Course
The number of youth who are pursuing higher education or careers in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) has declined rapidly in recent years. In addition, girls, youth with disabilities, youth from low-income families, youth who are or will be first-generation college students, youth who are immigrants or refugees, and youth from ethnic or racial minority groups are underrepresented in STEM fields. Many STEM mentoring programs have been established to address the national shortage of youth pursuing futures in STEM. By providing youth with opportunities to create a meaningful relationship with a supportive adult and explore their interests in STEM subjects, these mentoring programs may help engage, recruit, and retain youth of diverse races, abilities, and backgrounds in STEM.
Posted on by eporter
Preparing Mentors to Enhance Their Mentee’s Academic Engagement
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition to online learning posed significant challenges to students and teachers. Schools and students are still struggling to recover from the loss of in-person learning opportunities and the negative impacts that the pandemic had on students’ and staff’s school engagement, mental health, and daily lives. A recent NWEA report showed that students are learning at a slower rate than before the pandemic, resulting in tremendous learning losses. Student test scores are repeatedly lower than normal, tutoring is reaching only a small subset of students, and school attendance is markedly low.
Posted on by eporter
Mentoring Central to Present at the 2024 National Mentoring Summit
Mentoring Central Research Scientists Drs. Janis Kupersmidt and Katie Stump will present at the 2024 meeting of the annual National Mentoring Summit in Washington, DC, next month. Each year, MENTOR hosts mentoring professionals and advocates from across the nation to take part in expert-led presentations and networking opportunities to share mentoring best practices and drive positive change for young people. The next National Mentoring Summit will be held January 24-26, 2024.
Posted on October 25, 2023 by eporter
Mentoring Central Releases New Asset-Based, Goal-Oriented Activity Guide for Youth Mentors
October 25, 2023, Durham, NC – Mentoring Central is pleased to announce the release of Building Assets Together: A Guide for Youth Mentors.
Posted on October 23, 2023 by eporter
iRT Design Services Helps Clients Bring Their Ideas to Life
October 23, 2023, Durham, NC – iRT Design Services, a separate division of iRT from Mentoring Central, is dedicated to helping others bring their ideas to life through graphic design, multimedia production, course development, Learning Management System support, and more. iRT’s creative team of designers and developers have years of experience and expertise in delivering beautiful, usable SCORM-based e-Learning courses, instructional materials for in-person training programs, web applications, and informational materials to clients around the world. From graphic design to data collection, we use our skills to help clients meet their unique design needs.
Posted on October 16, 2023 by eporter
Teaching High School Students to Build Networks of Support with the Connected Scholars Program
October 16, 2023, Durham, NC – Social capital, which is defined as the connections, relationships, and resources available to individuals, plays an instrumental part in college students’ academic and career success. By developing skills to locate and develop relationships with potential mentors around them, such as teachers, school staff, and employers, students may feel encouraged to stay enrolled in college classes and engaged in their academics. The process of learning and practicing skills to build social capital can begin before students even enroll in college; however, these lifelong skills are rarely taught.