January often brings forth many new mindsets, opportunities and possibilities that give one the chance to renew and start afresh, the chance to make a change. It couldn’t be a better time of the year to be recognized as National Mentoring Month, looking at the unyielding dedication and commitment mentors around the country contribute to make such positive changes in the lives of the young.
The Mazie Mentoring Program, a local approach designed to help disadvantaged and at-risk Framingham and Waltham High School students, is a thriving and promising program that deserves much recognition and appreciation this month, for all of the work it’s done to put high school students on bright paths to their future.
For sixteen years, the Mazie Mentoring Program has been successfully run in Framingham High School. Recently, in 2010, the effective program was added to Waltham High School as well. The organization starts the program every year by pairing volunteer adult mentors with sophomores who may lack guidance or face external circumstances that put them at risk of not graduating. By helping these students make goals that focus on education and career paths throughout the following years of high school, the Mazie Mentoring Program works to create confident and successful young men and women who are on track to graduate and looking toward their future.
The program itself is run by the John Andrew Mazie Memorial Foundation (JAMMF), a nonprofit organization devoted to aiding at-risk youth, founded by Lowell Mazie, in memory of his late son. John Andrew, beloved in his short life by many, was killed by a drunk driver when he was 26. John’s family decided to honor his memory with what he was so passionate about during life, and so they created JAMMF, because John had had such a strong devotion to helping kids overcome hurdles in their lives. The creation of the Mazie Mentoring Program in memorial to John shows how his passion and dedication lives on, and it is a strong message to everyone on why it is so important to never give up on a disadvantaged child, because everyone deserves that chance.
Just as this message lives on, so does the effects of those helped by mentoring. Lowell Mazie says about the program, “The value of mentoring goes well beyond the life of the mentee, the real beauty of mentoring is that its effects live on for generations, through the person who was mentored to his or her children and grandchildren and beyond.” Mentoring is such an important act, it has lasting effects that strengthen the community and the lives of those all around. Mazie continues, “Mentors don’t just change one life, but they potentially impact thousands of other people who come in contact with that child for the rest of his or her life.”