B R O T H E R ' SK E E P E R

M E N T O R S H I P F O R T H E 2 1 S TC E N T U R Y

R I C H A R D H O R O W I T Z

Research continues to show thatmentorship can play a key role in later

success.

But, clearly, some children do not haveaccess to ideal role-models

But a new, presidential, educationintiative called "My Brother's Keeper",

will bring that chance to one millionunder-privileged school children.

The biggest goal right now, isto use these mentors to

prevent truancy, and makesure that students are

attending.

The program will begin in ten citiesfrom Boston to Seattle, and slowly

grow. The first two years will focus on250,000 students in grades 6-9.

It will then expand to reach kids fromkindergarten through high school.

The mentors come from a variety ofbackgrounds and will meet with thestudents 3 times per week to ensure

attendance.

While ensuring attendancemay seem like a low goal, high

rates of absenteeism arecorrelated with poor

classroom performance andgreater likelihood to drop out.Not a bad thing to try and fix!