Howard Seufer, Partner of Bowles, Rice, McDavid, Graff & Love, PLLC and Past Chairman of The Education Alliance’s Board of Directors; Charles Patton, President/COO of Appalachian Power; Dr. Patricia Kusimo, President/CEO of The Education Alliance; and Calvin McKinney, Principal of Sissonville High School.

On April 24, 2012, the AEP Foundation presented The Education Alliance $78,500 to expand its WV eMentoring program. WV eMentoring is an online program that allows working and retired adults to help high school students plan and prepare for success after graduation. WV eMentoring expects to serve over 1,600 public school students this year.

Charles Patton, President/COO of Appalachian Power, is a member of The Education Alliance’s Board of Directors and encourages his employees to serve as WV eMentors. He believes this program and The Education Alliance makes a difference for high school students.

“WV eMentoring is breaking geographic boundaries to allow caring business mentors to conduct career exploration with public school students,” said Dr. Patricia Kusimo, President/CEO of The Education Alliance. “Research shows students with career goals are more likely to complete their education, have higher self-esteem and more positive attitudes about their future and what they are learning. The Education Alliance believes with programs like WV eMentoring, West Virginia will no longer have one out of every four students not complete high school within four years.”

“This donation from the AEP Foundation will allow The Education Alliance to further expand the WV eMentoring program across the state. Their generosity is making it possible to bring WV eMentoring to high schools completely free of charge so more students can participate” said Jessica Wintz, The Education Alliance’s WV eMentoring Program Director.

“The WV eMentoring program is serving all tenth-grade English classes at our school,” said Calvin McKinney, Principal of Sissonville High School. “The program has been very informative in teaching our kids about possible career options. From what I have observed, the students really enjoyed the program and appreciated the opportunity we have given them.”

“We are very committed to supporting programs that enhance educational opportunities in West Virginia and education is certainly a pillar of our overall contributions strategy,” said Charles Patton, President/COO of Appalachian Power. “Several of our employees at Appalachian Power served as mentors during the first year of WV eMentoring,” said Jeri Matheney, Communications Director of Appalachian Power. “We learned how easy it is to be a mentor through this program. More important, we saw first-hand that online mentoring can work. On behalf of the AEP Foundation, we’re honored to be a part of bringing this initiative statewide.”

Here are just some of the comments we’ve received from students in Pocahontas and McDowell counties:

“The most valuable thing about ementoring to me is the way that my mentor and me had the same way of choosing our career. And that it was very helpful about getting my skills out in the open.”

“I believe eMentoring has helped me discover my career choice and the classes I need to attend in order to do so. I have received ideas about what career I want to go into when I graduate. It has been a pleasure to work with my mentor.”

“I wasn’t aware of all the different paths I could go down with a law degree, and how much you really benefit from being a lawyer. My mentor taught me so much about college classes, what I can do to prepare, and so much more. I am just very thankful I got to participate in this program, and learn about my future career!”

“I think the most valuable thing about eMentoring is that it really makes you think about your career and it helps you find out more information about the career interest of your choice. I like the fact that most of the mentors, even if they don’t have your career of choice they try their best to help you out.”

Mentors are needed to serve more West Virginia high school students.  Please consider taking 15 minutes a week to share your career story with a student. Sign up to become a WV eMentor!

Students from Capital High School in Kanawha County log on to complete their matching profiles for the WV eMentoring program. Photo credit: WOWK 13

In the past several weeks, we have been traveling across the state to meet with school administrators to bring WV eMentoring into the classroom and give students the opportunity to connect with mentors. We are proud to be in 13 West Virginia counties where more than 500 students will participate in the WV eMentoring program this school year.  There are more than a 1,000 high school students waiting to log on and be matched with a mentor.

We would like to thank the more than 300 mentors who are taking the time to share their career stories with a West Virginia high school student. Your time and dedication to the WV eMentoring program is truly making a difference.

You can make a difference in a student’s life in just 15 minutes a week. Help us serve more students by spreading the word about WV eMentoring, or become a WV eMentor today!

Pocahontas County High School student Natashia Brewer shares her experience with mentoring with First Lady Joanne Tomblin through the WV eMentoring program

Pocahontas County High School will participate in The Education Alliance’s WV eMentoring program for a third semester on February 8.   Approximately 56 Pocahontas county High School sophomores will log on during the program’s third implementation.

Since February 24, 2011, more than 100 sophomores at Pocahontas County High School have participated in the WV eMentoring program. Prior to the wide-spread use of technology, mentoring meant face-to-face time spent with a child.  However, the Internet makes it possible for mentors to make a difference from their home or office.

The mentor and the student interact electronically through a secure e-mail system. During this process, students learn more about the high school courses they need to pursue their career goal(s).  Mentors also help students create personalized career and education plans for life after high school.

“This is just a really good program and the students enjoy it,” said Tom Sanders, principal of Pocahontas County High School. “We have seen this program work and help students choose a career because they’re getting information first hand from people out there in the field.”

Students at Pocahontas County High School have talked to more than 75 mentors in various fields, including nursing, law and education. As they begin the matching process, students do not know who they will be paired with. Last year, Pocahontas County High School sophomore Natashia Brewer picked First Lady Joanne Tomblin to be her mentor. For 10 weeks, they discussed Brewer’s hopes of going to nursing school so she could help others. Last June, Brewer had the opportunity to meet Tomblin in Charleston, W.Va. to share how the WV eMentoring program had an impact on her life.

“We have been able to see such a huge change in her since she finished the program,” said Pocahontas County School Superintendent C.C. Lester. “If we’re able to change our students’ look on life, then we know we’re making a difference. WV eMentoring makes that possible for all of our students.”

Over the coming weeks, we’re expected to expand to Cabell, Greenbrier, Pocahontas and Wyoming counties as we stride to reach our goal of 1500 students! Keep checking back for updates.

As always, we encourage you to join us by becoming a WV eMentor and share your career story in just 15 minutes a week.

To celebrate National Mentoring Month, WV eMentoring is participating in I Am A Mentor! social media day on Facebook today. We encourage our current WV eMentors to change their profile pictures to show they’re proud to serve as a WV eMentor. Stories and comments will be shared throughout the day on The Education Alliance Facebook page and on the official I Am A Mentor Facebook page. We want everyone to know that WV eMentoring is an effective, convenient and fun mentoring program.  We hope you will join us!

This spring, 1,600 interested students need you to take 15 minutes a week to share your career story with them. If you aren’t a WV eMentor, please help us serve these students by signing up!

Please consider becoming a WV eMentor today so that we can reach our goal to serve these West Virginia high school students. You can make an impact on a student’s life in just 15 minutes a week. To learn more, click here.