By Meghan Streit
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

The teenage years are often a period of rapid change and frequent angst—and a time when many kids are unreceptive to guidance from parents. Grandparents, on the other hand, have a slightly different perspective to offer and can be a uniquely comforting resource for today’s teenagers.

Valuable adult support
With this in mind, a group of Sedgebrook residents have been mentoring teens from Stevenson High School, as part of the school’s “Partners to Success” program. For the last three years, the program has been matching special needs students with mentors. For each child, the mentor serves as a kind of surrogate “grandparent” by giving the youngster help with homework, offering career advice, or simply talking or playing games.

“Mentors respond to what the kids want,” says program director Perrie Kominsky, who is a speech pathologist at the school. “Some have conversations, just talking about various events of the day, and some play games with kids because the kids don’t have adult support at home.”

‘Enriching for the giver and receiver’
Sedgebrook resident and mentor Gene Golemo now spends his Wednesday afternoons talking about college, sports, and relationships with teenagers. The former Motorola purchasing agent says the program is “enriching for both the giver and the receiver.”

Having successfully raised three daughters, Golemo says he knows how to get through to kids. The program provides volunteers with materials and guidelines about how to mentor the students, but Golemo says it’s the time they spend talking that makes the biggest difference.

“I always believe you can save them,” he says of troubled teens. “I think [the mentoring program] has a lot of value.”