Kingston, TN –  Every year, Roane County needs approximately 100 mentors for our graduating high school seniors who apply for Tennessee Promise Scholarships.  What makes the Tennessee Promise college scholarship program so successful are the mentors!  What is so amazing is that mentors usually commit only 10 hours annually to make their significant contributions and change lives for the better.

Mentors encourage and guide our students so they successfully transition from high school to college. The students may use the Tennessee Promise scholarship to attend a Tennessee College of Applied Technology or community college and graduate with a degree, certification and/or license. 

The economic impact of Tennessee Promise and its mentors for individuals and their communities is tremendous.  Each year, almost $100,000 in financial aid from this program goes to the graduates of Roane County’s five high schools.  When they graduate, someone with a two-year college degree earns approximately $250,000 more in their lifetime than a high school graduate. That can change a community, a life, and future generations of a family for the better. Will you be a mentor that changes lives and transforms our community?

As a mentor, your role is critical for several reasons.  First, you encourage your students and let them know they are going to college. Almost 60% of the past program participants are first-generation college students; the majority also came from low income families. Mentors often fill a family experience void with their support and guidance. 

Second, our students need to know that someone is invested in them and that someone cares about their success. You might be the first person to ever take an active interest in their academic career.  And you are not alone in supporting your students – your fellow mentors and the tnAchieves organization are committed to your success as a mentor.

tnAchieves, the nonprofit organization that oversees the student-mentor relationships, will train you on the process and steps students will be required to complete to enter college.  However, often it is the mentor’s encouraging text message or a quick phone call to the student that will make a lasting impact.

As a mentor, you choose the high school your students come from, you attend a training session and meet other mentors from your community, and participate in two meetings with your students. The student meetings are held at the same time and location that other mentors are meeting with their students.  In addition to training, mentors receive a handbook and guidance from tnAchieves.

Please volunteer to be a mentor; submit your application at https://tnachieves.org/mentors/apply.  For more information contact Allen Lutz, Education and Workforce Development Specialist for the Roane Alliance, at 376-2093 or alutz@roanealliance.org.

The Roane Alliance - Roane County's economic development organization. The partners who operate under the Alliance umbrella are the Chamber of Commerce, Industrial Development Board, and Visitors Bureau.  To learn more about how the Roane Alliance promotes economic development and seeks increased opportunities for all Roane County citizens, please visit www.roanealliance.org.

##