United Way of Greater Union County’s (UWGUC) peer to peer mentoring partnership at Abraham Clark High School in Roselle has been such a great success, that the Thomas Glasser Foundation of Westfield has increased their grant with UWGUC to $10,000. The peer mentoring program will now take place in 3 Union County high schools – continuing in Roselle at  Abraham Clark, and beginning  at Linden High School in coordination with their “Youth for United Way Program” and in Westfield High School. Each program will be implementing the program in a slightly different way but all will pair high school juniors with younger students to help them to maximize their potential.

This program, based on “The Validating Mentor” and “The Validating Mentor Workbook” by Westfield resident Gail Cassidy, is a public/private partnership between these three high schools and United Way. The program’s expansion officially kicked off in January with Cassidy, leading and instructing the training. “I am very excited about the work we are doing with the mentors. Ultimately, this work will have a positive impact for the students, which is the goal of the program,” said Gail. “We truly enjoy working with the students and are very grateful for the support of the Thomas Glasser Foundation.”

The program initially debuted at Abraham Clark High School in March 2009 under the direction of guidance Counselor Jordan Siegel, with a series of mentor trainings with Cassidy . Mentors were then paired with their mentees.  “Mentoring helps students build confidence and competence to achieve academically and in life,” said Siegel. “We are thrilled that this program has been extended and are honored to make this happen with the wonderful partnerships of both United Way and The Thomas Glasser Foundation.”

For more information please contact Susan Pepper, Director of Programs,susan.pepper@uwguc.org, 908-353-7171 ext. 105.