Take the Lead mentor Katherine Axt '01 with her "mentee," high school student Joanna Hunter

Mount Holyoke's Take the Lead program is currently seeking student mentors for its second annual conference on building leadership skills for social activism, scheduled for October 11 through 14, 2001. The MHC event helps further develop and nurture the leadership skills of Mount Holyoke women, while providing high school students with an opportunity to create and implement plans of action to address their own specific school or community concerns. Fifty MHC leadership mentors will be selected to work with high school juniors from across the country during the fall event.

Applications for the mentorship program will be distributed to all MHC students by the Weissman Center for Leadership and are available online at www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/programs/wcl. The deadline for applications is April 9.

Last fall MHC student mentors had the unique opportunity to host thirty-two high school women from as far away as Hawaii for the inaugural leadership program. The leadership mentors provided guidance throughout the three-day program of workshops, events, and lectures, and continued as “personal coaches” during the semester as their younger counterparts began working to effect change in their own communities.

Katherine Axt '01, a leadership mentor for Take the Lead 2000, found working with intelligent, insightful, and highly motivated teens engaged in action for positive change to be an immensely gratifying experience. “The optimism and energy of the teens was an inspiration,” she says. “Helping my mentee figure out the concrete steps to achieving her action project taught me so much about how people working together can make a difference.” Axt also learned that mentoring is “a two-way street. “By helping others you become more inspired yourself. The program gave me not just a chance to teach others, but to give back to Mount Holyoke and to be a part of the circle of mentorship I've experienced while here. I highly recommend this program to others. It was hugely valuable and loads of fun.”

This year's mentors will undergo training during the month of September through the Weissman Center for Leadership. They will be expected to host high school participants in their residence halls during a four-day conference, and to accompany their mentees to workshops led by faculty, administrators, and alumnae on topics such as identity and talking across difference. Mentors will also work one-on-one with the teens on planning action projects. Last year these included topics ranging from gun violence and substance abuse to desegregation and combating homophobia.
Mentors will also be asked to commit to regular email or phone correspondence with their mentee for approximately six months following the summit. Ten of the fifty selected mentors will serve as alternates, enjoying the full benefits of training and the Take the Lead program in October.

Applicants must be first-years, sophomores, or juniors in good academic standing. They may be nominated by a fellow student, faculty, or staff member, or may choose to apply on their own. The names of two on-campus references (one must be a faculty member) who are familiar with the applicant's leadership abilities must be submitted with the application. For information on how you can become a Take the Lead leadership mentor, visit www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/programs/wcl.