Youth Mentorship Program
To build and sustain truly prosperous communities depends to a great extent on the effectiveness of the preparations the youth make for the world they will inherit.
The Roywood Neighborhood Centre offers systematic training to help youth generate and apply knowledge for the progress of their communities. The training helps motivated youth to gain a deeper understanding of concepts and to strengthen qualities, attitudes and skills that enable them to serve their communities with greater effectiveness. Youth are accompanied to learn about their community, to develop an appreciation of its strengths and to investigate its challenges with a view to identifying meaningful steps they can take to contribute to its wellbeing and progress.
These efforts are motivated by a conviction that youth represent a vast reservoir of talent and energy that can be directed to the advancement of civilization; that the wellbeing of youth and their families and the prosperity and development of the community are interdependent; that study, work and community development are integrated in a spirit of service; and that the spiritual and material progress of a community is a responsibility shared by all.
Complete the registration below to participate in the program and volunteer as a tutor:
Service
Through service to the community, young people develop spiritual qualities and intellectual capacity and learn to foster a life in which the various aspects – for example, family responsibilities, school, work – advance together in a complementary manner. The program weaves together study and service to the community to help youth in their formative years develop their qualities, talents and capacities, upon which a fruitful and rewarding life depend, and to contribute meaningfully to the wellbeing and progress of their community.
One way that youth contribute to their community is by helping junior youth, those a few years younger than themselves, navigate a challenging time of life and be well prepared to shoulder the responsibilities of youth. Other initiatives include being stewards of the environment, promoting food security through urban agriculture, nurturing young children, and enriching the life of the community through arts.
Academic Excellence
The program helps youth in high school be prepared to continue to tertiary education. With the help of a tutor, small groups of youth study educational content that strengthens intellectual capacity, focusing on language, mathematics, science, and technology. An aim is to broaden and strengthen the conceptual foundation of what is being learned in school and to help young people reflect on themes such as money and finance, work and vocation, and media and technology.
A focus is to help youth in these formative years learn to analyze the social forces to which they are exposed, to strengthen their spirit of inquiry and direct it to learn about their communities and identify ways they can, together as young people, contribute to improving them.
Participation in the Life of the Community
The community – composed of individuals, families, and institutions – is a vital element of civilization necessary to ensuring the cohesion and well being of society. It is the place where we carry on the activities of social life and where we develop our talents and capacities. A community flourishes when it is animated by a common purpose to contribute to the welfare of people within and beyond its own borders, to contribute to the spiritual and social progress.
The youth mentorship program aims to help young people participate effectively in the affairs of the community and to contribute to building vital communities, that, in turn, create an environment that nurtures the susceptibilities and capacities of its youngest members.