Funding helps the nonprofit mentoring organization provide after-school and weekend mentoring for middle school students in Los Angeles
Press Release – Los Angeles, CA — (September 25, 2018) – A grant from the Annenberg Foundation was received by Los Angeles Team Mentoring, Los Angeles’ pioneering non-profit organization guiding middle school students from challenging urban neighborhoods to reach their full potential and develop their leadership skills. The funds will be used to support the TeamWorks program, an after-school and weekend program for 6th, 7th and 8th graders, which utilizes a team model to promote positive self-image and attitude, build strong peer-to-peer and peer-to-adult relationships, and emphasizes the importance of teamwork and diversity.
“In the last several years, the cost of living in Los Angeles has risen dramatically, while wages have stagnated,” says Maria Melton, LATM’S Executive Director. “This has forced many parents to take on two or even three jobs in order to support their family, leaving kids susceptible to negative outside influences. Our program focuses on the critical non-school hours to ensure that students have a safe and structured environment, as well as positive role models. Research shows that 95% of LATM mentored youth graduate high school versus the LA County School District’s 73% rate. We are grateful to the Annenberg Foundation for helping support this much needed program with this generous grant,” adds Ms. Melton
Immediately in the wake of the 1992 civil unrest, Los Angeles Team Mentoring (LATM) launched its first after-school mentoring program at Horace Mann Middle School, located just three miles from the epicenter of the Los Angeles Riots. Its team-based mentoring model, developed by the Princeton Center for Leadership, was instituted to train and encourage that leadership, the benefits of which have long been helping to modify the effects of gang activity, violence, poverty and high drop-out rates of young people.
Since its inception, the organization has impacted the lives of 25,000 young people through two and a half million hours of after school mentoring. The organization focuses on the critical non-school hours – after-school, weekends and summers – to ensure that students have a safe and structured programming and access to trusted adult role models. 89% of students receiving mentoring services from LATM come from low-income households, 35% come from single-parent households, and 29% live in a home where neither parent has graduated from high school.
Earlier this year, in honor of January’s “Mentoring Month,” Supervisor Hilda L. Solis presented Los Angeles Team Mentoring with a special recognition, stating that “Mentorships and positive adult role models have proven to be beneficial to all youth; youth with mentors show a reduction in depressive symptoms, are less likely to skip class or school, have better attitudes towards education, and are more likely to enroll in college. Mentors also have a tremendous impact on communities of color, helping to combat negative influences often prevalent in many of these communities.
MORE ABOUT LOS ANGELES TEAM MENTORING:
LATM’s core team mentoring model, TeamWorks, includes a team of three mentors consisting of a teacher, a college student, and a community/business volunteer that utilize an activity-based curriculum enabling students to develop social emotional skills and resiliency. In addition, LATM conducts Summer Leadership Camp whose goal is to give students the college knowledge needed to become competitive applicants. The LATM program is now available in 11 middle schools:
• Bethune Middle School in South LA • Wilmington Middle School in Wilmington • John Burroughs Middle School in Mid-Wilshire • Peary Middle School in Gardena • Para Los Ninos in Skid Row, Downtown LA • James Madison Middle School in North Hollywood • Johnnie Cochran Middle School in Mid-City • Webster Middle School in West LA • KIPP Sol Academy in East LA • Pacoima Middle School in the San Fernando Valley • Richard Merkin Middle School in Downtown LA/Pico-Union
For more information, please visit www.latm.org
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