One of the reasons IAM4kids Mentoring Program has worked so well is our approach to involving the community. I have served on staff at multiple churches as a student pastor, on staff in the school system as a ‘Mentor Coordinator’ and ‘Assistant Director of the AWARE mental health initiative’. Through these experiences, I learned that the best way to help kids gain knowledge of their value and worth is to involve mentors from all walks of life and to not put the responsibility of running the mentoring program on the school.

Teachers, counselors and administrators have enough responsibility to carry for our kids. I believe that the “village” has to step up to help. That’s where my unique experience in working with the schools, civic groups and faith communities come together.

I have successfully helped the Lawrence County schools and community maintain their own identities (school, church, community) while working together to do what we each do best – educate and motivate kids.

When I work with a community, we establish the mentoring program (aside from the student-run clubs) administration outside of the school.

The mentoring often happens on campus, but the administration is handled through a carefully selected community liaison. We establish the foundation program with a church or a group of churches. These groups bear the cost of managing the program (recruiting/matching mentors and administration costs).

Here is a graphic representation of the structure:

To learn more about IAM4kids, please visit the program website.

If you haven’t found what you need or if you want to take the conversation further, please contact me via StevenSeatonMentoring@gmail.com or 931-244-0945.  I look forward to speaking with you soon.

I was awarded the Character Award for my volunteer work with the local Alternative School. Afterwards I was asked to create a county-wide mentoring program.