Mentors Needed in Stephens Co. For Students

The head of the mentoring program in the Stephens County school system said more mentors are needed.

Nancy Ekback is the Mentor Coordinator for Family Connection of Stephens County.

She heads up the mentoring program in the Stephens County school system.

According to Ekback, that program serves students from Pre-Kindergarten all the way up through high school.

“Family Connection of Stephens County matches a positive, caring adult that passed a background check with a student having difficulty in school,” said Ekback. “A child is referred to our program and so we try to match that mentor with that child. We are a unique program as we are the only mentor program that Stephens County schools have and we mentor during school hours.”

Ekback said at the current time, the waiting list is around 18 students that are looking for mentors.

She said out of those 18, 16 of those are male students, so there is a specific need for male mentors, but Ekback said she will not turn anyone away who is interested in mentoring.

She said that the commitment asked of a mentor is very straightforward.

“We ask for one student, one hour per week and we ask for at least one school year to serve that one child, so it is a one-on-one commitment,” said Ekback. “The hour includes your travel time, so it is a pretty easy commitment to volunteer.”

Ekback said that simple commitment can make a huge difference in the life of the child.

“We find that our mentor students have fewer absences,” said Ekback. “They have improved grades and we have less dropping out, which means it increases our graduation rate and all that leads to success in schools for our students.”

She went on to say that she appreciates the support of the community for this program.

“We are a tiny little community in comparison to others, but our program is one of the biggest ones in our area and I am just super, super proud of it,” said Ekback.

For more information on getting involved in the mentoring program in the Stephens County school system, people can call Ekback at 706-898-5115.

She said she will then get people who want to get involved an application and a background check and start the process of getting them signed up for the program.