MENTORING... THE CORE OF CHALLENGE

A critical and required component of the Mountaineer ChalleNGe program is the matching of each cadet with a caring, responsible adult mentor. This relationship begins in the Residential Phase and continues for a full year during the Post-Residential Phase of the program.

Not only is mentoring important for the development of these young men and women, but the academy is required by the National Guard Bureau and Congress to report on the progress of cadets during the Post-Residential Phase. This progress is documented by mentors in monthly reports submitted to the academy, and then forwarded to Washington, D.C. 

Every cadet is required to have a Mentor. Mentor follow-up throughout the 12-month Post-Residential Phase is key to the long-term success for MCA graduates. This has proven true at all ChalleNGe programs nation-wide.

WHAT IS A MENTOR?

Defined as "a wise and trusted teacher or counselor,"  mentoring is a key strategy for successful long-term placement. It could be a teacher, a coach, a neighbor, a co-worker, or a minister, among others. Every successful person has had mentors in his or her life.  What all of us have become is due, in part, to the mentors in our lives. 


WHAT DOES A MENTOR DO?

The Mentor will help guide his or her cadet through the transition from the Academy back into their home community and new life.  They will assist the cadet with his or her Graduate Action Plan, the "road map" to their future placement. Successful placement means that a ChalleNGe graduate has entered or enlisted in the military, enrolled in school, or is employed in the job force.  The primary long-term outcome for a ChalleNGe program is defined as "successful placement at the end of the Post-Residential Phase."  A 1998 study on the ChalleNGe program found that over ninety percent of youths who were doing well in the post-residential phase had active and successful mentor relationships.