MentorMail

In fall 2007, YouthFriends will introduce MentorMail®, a private, online bulletin-board that will allow
e-mentors and e-mentees to correspond even more securely and efficiently. Mentormail will open the door for e-mentoring in school districts throughout the country—including districts that do not allow students to have school e-mail accounts. Using the bulletin-board system, students will be able to connect only with their e-mentors and messages will be filtered and archived for risk-management purposes.

MentorMap

Based on the successful YouthFriends operating system, MentorMap provides a comprehensive system of tools, training and technology for school districts and communities to develop and grow school-based mentoring programs.

UpLink
UpLink is Greater Kansas City’s first-ever community hub connecting the workplace to the classroom in order to further students’ academic skills and interests in the areas of math, engineering, technology and science (METS).

UpLink inspires students to seek careers in these fields by connecting them with dynamic mentors, progressive teachers and real-world learning experiences. The pilot year focuses on three core components:

• YouthFriends—connects METS professionals with mentoring opportunities in area schools
• TeacherTech—connects teachers with paid, METS-related summer externships with area employers
• LaunchPad—connects middle and high school students with METS-related internships and job shadowing opportunities with area employers; connects classrooms with METS-related career presentations through a volunteer speakers bureau

UpLink is part of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s long-term, multifaceted approach to help the Kansas City area become a model for outstanding math and science education. UpLink is being implemented by YouthFriends, a nationally-recognized leader in the fields of school-based mentoring and volunteerism. YouthFriends is highly regarded for its prudent risk management procedures, including quadruple background checks and re-screening of five-year volunteers. These procedures meet or exceed national best practice standards for quality mentoring.