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Jermaine Hatton’s employees at Wells Fargo Bank in Middletown do more than handle money.
Nine members of his team have been dedicating half-an-hour of their own time each week since November to mentor students from Brick Mill and Silver Lake Elementary Schools in a one-on-one setting.
So far, they have donated more than 30 hours of time.
“It gives the kids the opportunity to have other adults to listen to them,” he said.
January is National Mentoring Month and the employees of the Wells Fargo, Middletown Branch Bank have made a commitment to actively volunteer in our public schools as mentors, said Appoquinimink School District spokeswoman Lilian Miles.
“At Wells Fargo, we have a commitment to supporting our communities through volunteering and outreach,” Hatton said. “So we decided to get involved with the mentoring program as part of our local branch’s commitment.”
This is Hatton’s second year as a mentor. He participated last year through the same program, Creative Mentoring, but because of the bank’s transition to becoming a Wells Fargo, he said he couldn’t dedicate the time he wanted to it.
The mentors do a variety of things with their students, but it’s always what the kid wants to do, Hatton said. The 30-minutes that the kids spend with their mentor is spent however they want it to be spent.
He said they do anything from talk about current events or play games, but mostly they just listen.
“My mentee wants to shoot baskets,” Hatton said. “It’s the interaction he is looking for.”
One mentor taught her mentee a magic trick and another went outside to play football with their student, he added.
The students are signed up by their parent or guardian through the school and then are placed with a mentor. The schools send information home and then match the student up with someone.
It provides the children, who are in the first through fifth grades an adult friend who listens and shows a genuine interest in them, Hatton said.
For the bank’s branch manager the best part about being a mentor is seeing the kids’ faces light up when they arrive.
“Thirty minutes a week per employee may sound like a lot,” he said. “But you’re volunteering in your local community and making a difference where most of your employees live.”
Jermaine Hatton’s employees at Wells Fargo Bank in Middletown do more than handle money.
Nine members of his team have been dedicating half-an-hour of their own time each week since November to mentor students from Brick Mill and Silver Lake Elementary Schools in a one-on-one setting.
So far, they have donated more than 30 hours of time.
“It gives the kids the opportunity to have other adults to listen to them,” he said.
January is National Mentoring Month and the employees of the Wells Fargo, Middletown Branch Bank have made a commitment to actively volunteer in our public schools as mentors, said Appoquinimink School District spokeswoman Lilian Miles.
“At Wells Fargo, we have a commitment to supporting our communities through volunteering and outreach,” Hatton said. “So we decided to get involved with the mentoring program as part of our local branch’s commitment.”
This is Hatton’s second year as a mentor. He participated last year through the same program, Creative Mentoring, but because of the bank’s transition to becoming a Wells Fargo, he said he couldn’t dedicate the time he wanted to it.
The mentors do a variety of things with their students, but it’s always what the kid wants to do, Hatton said. The 30-minutes that the kids spend with their mentor is spent however they want it to be spent.
He said they do anything from talk about current events or play games, but mostly they just listen.
“My mentee wants to shoot baskets,” Hatton said. “It’s the interaction he is looking for.”
One mentor taught her mentee a magic trick and another went outside to play football with their student, he added.
The students are signed up by their parent or guardian through the school and then are placed with a mentor. The schools send information home and then match the student up with someone.
It provides the children, who are in the first through fifth grades an adult friend who listens and shows a genuine interest in them, Hatton said.
For the bank’s branch manager the best part about being a mentor is seeing the kids’ faces light up when they arrive.
“Thirty minutes a week per employee may sound like a lot,” he said. “But you’re volunteering in your local community and making a difference where most of your employees live.”
