Who are the Manor Mentors?
The Manor Mentors are a group of men from Rogue Valley Manor, a retirement community of nearly a thousand residents in Medford, Oregon. Their lifestyle includes an exceptional variety of cultural events, educational seminars, hobbies, sports and activities of every kind. They also volunteer to share their skills and areas of expertise with the other residents and the community at large. The Manor Mentor Program draws men from 350 successful retired doctors, engineers, scientists, lawyers, judges, teachers, professors, bankers, and school administrators who have retired at the Rogue Valley Manor.
What is a Mentor?
A mentor is a caring, adult friend who volunteers his time to help a student. The mentor's goal is to use his lifetime of experience to help the student discover his strengths, explore his opportunities and achieve his full potential for a successful future.
A mentor builds a one-on-one trusting, respectful relationship with his student, offering him guidance, support, and encouragement and building the student's self-confidence.
A mentor helps the student understand, relate to and develop the tools to successfully deal with life situations, leading to life-enhancing decisions.
Research supports the benefits of mentoring for a student. A mentor supports parents and educators in the mission to help students reach academic success.
Building Futures
The vision of the Manor Mentors and Financial Aid Program is to first provide a mentor to boys during their junior and senior year of high school and beyond.
School Counselors at the three Medford public high schools will recommend young men who would benefit by having a mentoring adult.
The first measure of success for each student will be graduating from high school or completion of his GED requirements. The next step would be exploring possibilities of vocational or trade school, or community college, where hands-on skill training is available.
The second part of the Manor Mentors and Financial Aid Program is providing awards for our graduates, such as scholarships for college or vocational school, transportation expenses, trade union apprenticeship dues or local business internship fees, special tools, clothing, equipment or permits for immediate employment.
