The Greenwood Mentoring Group has engaged a new group of mentees in a program for girls.
Bill Clay, executive director of the group, says the girls’ mentoring program grew as an offshoot of the established one for boys.
“The young girls were saying, ‘Mr. Clay, Mr. Clay, what about us?’” he said.
The first planning meeting for the girls’ group took place in August, and the program launched in October.
“All of a sudden, here were the guys getting ready to go to a football game, and the girls were like, ‘Mr. Clay, what are we?’” Clay said.
The male mentoring program serves about nine young men. The girls’ program, which currently has about 10 participants, focuses on some of the same topics as the boys’ group, including conflict resolution, handling peer pressure and making decisions.
Clay said it was brought to the mentoring group’s attention that the girls needed some of the same mentorship the boys were getting but that female mentors were not as readily available.
Now, the girls group has five mentors, including Clay’s wife, Causie; his daughter, Roishina Henderson; Olivia Henderson; Alice Baker; and Linda McCoy. The group meets once a month and is still open to interested students between the ages of 7 and 14.
In general, Clay said, “what works for girls works for boys” — though the groups mainly meet separately from each other. Occasionally, he said, if there is a speaker on a topic that would benefit both groups, a co-ed session will be held.
He said even when he is driving the girls somewhere, he is sure to keep the boundaries intact.
“They asked me something one time, and I said, ‘I’m just the chauffeur,’” Clay laughed. “I’m the guy who picks up the tab and chauffeurs.”
Roishina Henderson, who helped start the girls’ group, said the girls receive pearls of wisdom at the monthly meetings.
At the latest meeting, held Saturday, Clemmie Brown-Cleveland, a nurse and minister, spoke to them about exercising their minds.
“It’s just the ladies handling their business,” Clay said.
Participants in the group will also be able to engage in educational field trips and community opportunities, all free of charge – if they are serious about the group, Clay said.
The goal of the Greenwood Mentoring Group is to show children that people care for them through teaching them to respect themselves and whatever communities they inhabit.
Clay said they want to “take young people past the boundaries of where they live” to help them understand what they can accomplish.
- Contact Katherine Parker at 662-581-7239 or kparker@gwcommonwealth.com.
