Reaching Out Mentoring Program (ROMP) began in 2005 with twelve students between grades 5 and 8 at Pleasant Hill Middle School. By the end of that school year, we doubled the number of students being served. In 2007 ROMP expanded to the Pleasant Hill elementary and high schools. In the fall of 2008 we expanded into neighboring South Lane School District, opening a Mentor Center at Lincoln Middle School.
Today ROMP mentors and assists over 120 students between grades one and twelve in the Pleasant Hill and South Lane school districts. We partner with the districts who refer students and provide space to operate three Mentor Centers: Pleasant Hill Elementary School, Lincoln Middle School, and Cottage Grove High School. Our mentoring is designed to help students succeed in their current class work, prepare for high school success, and make plans for future academic pursuits – vocational school or college. Our vision is to support disadvantaged students in the rural areas of Lane County by providing mentoring and academic assistance, by connecting high school and elementary school students through our buddy program, and by building a stronger, proactive relationship between students and their community.
- We ask all our mentors to commit to meeting with a youth for a minimum of one hour a week for at least one academic school year.
- Our Mentor Centers are stuffed full of activities. We have games, arts and crafts, computers, a lending library, sports equipment, and snacks. You can come with activities you would like to do with your youth OR come and find something in the Mentor Center you and your mentee would like to do together.
- We offer three or four fieldtrips a year for the entire mentor/mentee group, and we will purchase tickets for local theater productions, athletic events, museum passes or other ideas that you may have.
- We ask our mentors to attend at least two of our four Mentor Development Workshops we hold each year. (Attach a link to our calendar). All of our Mentor Development Workshops are conducted by professionals in the topic area.
- Mentors and their families are asked to attend one of our three Family Connection Events. This is an opportunity to have the mentor and youth’s families come together and get to know one-another in a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere.
For more information, contact:
Marc Bass, Cottage Grove High School, Cottage Grove: marc@bbbslane.org or (541) 953-4822
Lori Bass, Lincoln Middle School, Cottage Grove: lori@bbbslane.org or (541) 953-4844
Susie Rexius, Pleasant Hill Community Center, Pleasant Hill: susie@bbbslane.org or (541) 736-0495