Program - T.A.L.K.S. Mentoring

TALKS Mentoring, engaged in the Champaign-Urbana, IL area since 1995, is an innovative, cognitive-behavioral approach to youth mentoring that focuses on leadership skill development through peer-to-peer and youth-adult interactions. TALKS implements a structured format by which adult mentors from the community serve as role models for children in the public schools. Rather than the traditional one-on-one approach to mentoring, TALKS is implemented in a small group setting. Students are identified by their schools (principals, social workers, teachers) for participation in the program and placed in groups of one adult mentor with three students-usually a racially mixed group with one student who excels, one whose academic performance is average but who could do better with support, and one student who is "at-risk"-academically, behaviorally, or both.

TALKS utilizes a content-based curriculum that covers issues such as respect, peer pressure, relationships with siblings, anger management, work ethic, understanding different races and cultures, and having a positive attitude. Each week, students and their mentor spend 30-45 minutes at their school working on a lesson in the curriculum. Students read passages along with their mentors and discuss the relevance of each topic to their own lives. Each chapter includes suggested questions for the mentor to ask the students and quotes for the children to memorize, to help mentors build a "bridge" of wisdom for these children.