At Hakshiva we put much emphasis and efforts on our Individual Mentoring Program. We feel that prevention is our most valuable tool when working with children and adolescents and believe that through a relationship with a mentor, a child has a greater chance to succeed.
The value of a mentor in the life of a child cannot be overestimated.

What is The Individual Mentoring Program?
Hakshiva’s mentoring program is built to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships. The mentoring program pairs up children ages 10-15 from the RBS community with a mentor. A mentoring match is carefully administered and supported by rigorous standards and trained personnel. Our staff strives for matches that are not only well suited to each child’s needs, but are also harmonious and built to last. The mentor meets with his mentee twice a week for learning, schmoozing, and/or recreational activities. Both the mentor and the parents are in constant contact with the Hakshiva staff to guarantee safety and quality in the relationship.

What is a Mentor?
A mentor is an adult who, along with parents, provides young people with support, counsel, friendship, reinforcement and a constructive example. Mentors are good listeners, people who care, people who want to help young people bring out strengths that are already there. A mentor is anything from a companion, a coach, a motivator, an advisor, a role model.

Effectiveness of Mentoring
Researchers found that after 18 months of spending time with their mentors, the mentees were:

• 52% less likely to skip school
• 58% improved their school performance
• 65% showed higher levels of self-confidence
• 55% had a better attitude toward school
• One-third less likely to hit someone
• Getting along better with their families

The Relationship
Hakshiva mentors meet twice a week with their mentees. Mentors activities range from learning together to just “hanging out.” Sharing recreational time together is an extremely effective way of building and deepening a relationship. When a mentee senses that his mentor enjoys being with him it will be a tremendous boost to his self-esteem. The following is a list of different activities our mentors do with their mentees.

1. Learning something of interest together
2. Helping a mentee with what he is learning in school
3. Going out for pizza, ice-cream, a drink, and/or candy
4. Playing a board game or work on a puzzle together
5. Going for a bike ride
6. Taking a walk in the park
7. Playing ball
8. Getting involved in a Chesed project together
9. Planting something together in one of your gardens
10. Going swimming
11. Going on a hike
12. Doing a fun art project together
13. Fixing/building something together in one of your houses or in a shul
14. Teaching him an interesting skill that you know
15. Teaching him a card trick
16. Making tzizis together
17. Bookbinding in a shul

The list goes on …

What mattered to the children was not the activities, but the fact that they had a caring adult in their lives. Because they had someone to confide in and to look up to, they were, in turn, doing better in school and at home. The mentees were also avoiding violence and substance abuse at a pivotal time in their lives when even small changes in behavior, or choices made, can change the course of their future.