Mentoring

Built upon evidence-based research, our programs are designed to increase key protective factors in the lives of our students. Examples of protective factors include hope, empathy, gratitude, and a growth mindset.

Why Mentoring?

Between the ages of 10 to 14, early adolescents are living in a period of significant social and emotional development. They seek meaningful connections with peers, grapple with self-consciousness and self-evaluation, navigate intense and fluctuating emotions, and strive for independence while still relying on adult support. Understanding and supporting these developmental processes are crucial for fostering positive social and emotional growth during early adolescence.

Our research-based approach adjusts to the needs and resources of each site to best equip mentors to conduct activities that build protective factors for adolescents, such as empathy, healthy coping skills, a growth mindset, and hope.

Mentors play a vital role in helping young adolescents navigate these changes by providing support, guidance, and a safe space for emotional expression.

Emotional Validation

Mentors can acknowledge and validate the range of emotions experienced by young adolescents, helping them feel heard and understood. This validation can provide reassurance and help adolescents develop a healthy relationship with their emotions.

Active Listening

Mentors can actively listen to the concerns, fears, and frustrations expressed by young adolescents. This attentive listening allows mentors to gain insights into their mentees’ emotional experiences and offer empathetic responses.

Emotional Awareness and Regulation

Mentors can assist young adolescents in developing emotional awareness by helping them identify and label their emotions. They can also provide strategies and coping strategies to regulate and manage intense or unpredictable emotions effectively.

Problem-Solving and Perspective-Taking

Mentors can guide young adolescents in problem-solving situations by encouraging them to consider different perspectives and potential outcomes. This approach helps adolescents develop emotional intelligence, empathy, and the ability to think critically about their emotions and their impact on relationships.

Modeling Healthy Emotional Expression

Mentors can serve as positive role models by demonstrating healthy ways to express and manage emotions. They can provide examples of constructive communication, conflict resolution, and self-care practices that promote emotional well-being.

The Mentor Project

Our formal mentoring program, The Mentor Project, has been designed for middle school aged students. Using a multitiered approach, trained Behrend college students partner with school staff members and community volunteers to run a one-hour weekly program at schools across Erie County. These activity-based sessions focus on building connection and resilience which teaching evidence-based protective factors.

Research-Based Curriculum

Using a strengths-based approach, every session at The Mentor Project has been crafted around developing one protective factor to optimize student success. Several of these protective factors are backed by research published by faculty and faculty affiliates at CORE.

Growth Mindset
Empathy
Hope
Connection
Resilience

In partnership with CORE’s Research & Evaluation team, The Mentor Project relies on pre and post data to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Schools can receive one-page reports offering data from control and treatment groups of the entire grade level within The Mentor Project.

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The Mentor Portal

If you currently serve in the Mentor Project with Susan Hirt Hagen CORE, the Mentor Portal will be a helpful resource to equip you for your role.

Login to the Mentor Portal

Schoolwide Mentoring

Effective mentoring practices create meaningful change for individual students and your school culture as a whole. Our team works alongside your school to design a mentoring program that fits your school’s needs, provides training for mentors, and offers evaluation for subsequent data-driven decisions.

This service is custom-designed to meet your unique needs, using a whole-school approach.

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Teachers as Mentors

We can help you create an environment where teachers are seen not only as academic support but as trusted mentors to the students in their classrooms.

Holistic Approach

With the help of our Research & Evaluation team, we can begin planning your schoolwide mentoring initiative through a needs assessment, establishing desired outcomes, and conducting year long program evaluation using qualitative and quantitative measures for both students and staff.

Ongoing Consultation and Support

Our team will be available through the year to offer guidance, visitation, college student visits, and direction as needed.

Training

The CORE team can customize trainings relevant to your school’s specific needs. Often conducted on in-service days, these trainings seek to increase the confidence and understanding of your teaching staff in their efforts to help their students. CORE offers trainings on topics such as building empathy, decreasing bullying, and the effects of phone usage on the adolescent brain.

Kristin Hesch, M.S.

Associate Director of Community Outreach

Lecturer, Psychology

Kristin Hesch developed an interest in youth and adolescents while pursuing her Psychology degree at Penn State Behrend, including an internship with The Ophelia Project. She obtained her master's degree in organizational leadership from Mercyhurst University, with a research thesis focused on the roles of empathy and forgiveness in relational aggression. Kristin has spent the past 20 years mentoring middle and high school students in the Erie community through training, speaking, and facilitating networks of connection. Kristin speaks with passion, clarity, and enthusiasm for progress. As an Erie County native, Kristin brings to CORE a passion for strengthening the next generation of our community through partnerships and collaborative efforts.

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