2015 Assembly Joint Resolution 2
ENROLLED JOINT RESOLUTION
Relating to: designating January as Mentoring Month in Wisconsin.
Whereas, since 2002, January has been National Mentoring Month;
Whereas, the goals of National Mentoring Month are to raise awareness and recruit individuals to mentor;
Whereas, mentors are adults who devote time and attention to young people, thereby helping them to discover personal strengths and achieve their potential through a trusting relationship;
Whereas, mentors come from all walks of life, providing young people with viewpoints and experiences they may not otherwise have;
Whereas, quality mentoring encourages positive choices and promotes self-esteem and academic achievement;
Whereas, mentoring programs have shown themselves to be effective in combating discipline problems, substance abuse, incarceration, and truancy;
Whereas, research shows young people who were at risk for not completing high school but who had a mentor were 55 percent more likely to be enrolled in college, 81 percent more likely to report participating regularly in sports or extracurricular activities, more than twice as likely to say they held a leadership position in a club or on a sports team, and 78 percent more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities;
Whereas, youth development experts agree mentoring is critical to the social, emotional, and cognitive development of young people;
Whereas, mentors help set career goals and provide advice and support;
Whereas, Wisconsin is home to numerous mentoring organizations, pairing young people from all across the state with mentors in their local area;
Whereas, the benefits of mentoring link youth to economic opportunity and strengthen our communities;
Whereas, despite these benefits, one in three youth will reach age 19 without a mentor, constituting a "mentoring gap" that shows a need for collaboration and resources; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the month of January shall be designated as "Mentoring Month" in Wisconsin.
