Teen Employment and Mentoring Program

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

The Teen Employment Mentoring Program (TEMP) provides at-risk teens the opportunity for employment, mentoring, support and motivation to help the participant stay in school, connect education and learning to employment and graduate from high school. Providing a teen with a work opportunity and workplace mentor can increase the teen’s self-esteem, educational success, and decrease the likelihood of the teen dropping out of school. Teens entering 9th grade or above that have been assessed by Wilson County Department of Social Services social work staff to be at-risk of dropping out of high school are candidates for the TEMP program. This is a work site mentoring program. All mentoring will be done at the employment worksite. The key to success is to provide the right balance for developing a meaningful relationship that will result in both support and accountability. The teens are receiving real world work experience and are compensated through agency funds for their employment. Mentors work with students on setting goals and provide recognition and rewards for achieving incremental goals both on the job and at school.