Bro. Andre Dillard Leads New Anne Arundel County School Mentoring Program

The senior manager of mentorship programs is a brand new position created by Anne Arundel County School Superintendent, Chapter Bro. Dr. Mark Bedell. The position was created to ensure that the school system will offer a diverse portfolio of mentoring options for community volunteers seeking to mentor youth, create partnerships with outside organizations that already have established mentoring programs, and ensure each student who has a mentor or is part of a mentor program, will receives the unique type of support that best meets their needs.

The senior manager of mentorship programs will ensure that the school system embraces a district-wide strategy to engage more students in all levels (elementary, middle, & high schools) based mentoring programs. Mentoring within schools has become an increasingly popular and effective way to bring a caring adult or older peer relationship to the lives of more youth. The goal of this new position is to provide opportunities for students to partner with a caring adult that will help them to better achieve educational and social-emotional growth and development.

Bro. Dillard will be the first person to hold the position and build it from the ground up.

Bro. Dr. Bedell is winding down his 1st full year. When asked about this program, he said the school mentor program is the start of a long process of bringing hope and opportunity to every student in the county, a mission he’s been on since 1997. “We still have people in parts of our community where they feel hopeless,” he said. “If we can instill hope in our educators of what could be self-efficacy being significantly improved, not only in the educator but in the children, that’s where the magic begins to take place from a belief standpoint.”