Please Call Me Mister Or Miss: An After School Mentoring Program

As the only public, historically black, land grant university in the state, Kentucky State University seeks FY 2022 funding to expand an after school mentoring program that targets at-risk African American and Hispanic males ages 12-17. The program will expand mentoring services to include 50 additional at-risk African American, Hispanic, and Bi-racial males and females in Franklin County, Kentucky. Utilizing evidence-based mentoring approaches, the proposed after-school mentoring program to be called, “Please Call Me Mister or Miss”, includes one-to-one and group mentoring with associated workshops, a six-week summer institute and activities to promote positive youth development and family engagement. These activities are selected to achieve the programs stated goals to improve academic achievement, conflict resolution skills, knowledge of harms associated with drugs and substance use, health and physical fitness, injury prevention, disease prevention, life skills, cultural enrichment and career exploration. The expected short-term outcomes include increased structure in the mentoring match and increased skills of mentors to work with at-risk youth. Intermediate outcomes include a more positive attitude of youth about school and learning, increased youth self-confidence and ability to avoid drugs and at-risk behavior, and increased ability of parents to support the match. Progress will be measured by pre/post testing, mentee surveys, and school/parent/mentor surveys or reports. Process evaluation will be used to understand how the program functions and can be improved in design and implementation. Summative evaluation will be used to assess overall program outcomes.