Staff Writer
Life skills, relationships and personal responsibility are among the issues which a new mentoring program is addressing at the Loring Job Corps Center.
Contributed photo
Students and staff from the Job Corps centers in Limestone and Bangor are pictured with Maine’s attorney general, Steve Rowe, fourth from right, during a conference held earlier this month on domestic violence. The conference was part of the initial activities of a new mentoring program at the Loring Job Corps Center.
Starting with 10 students, LJCC officials in the community living segment hope that the program will help the men on center be more accountable to each other, according to Ray Tompkins, the evening program manager.
The Job Corps center, a residential education and training program in Limestone, took four male students to a conference on domestic violence at the University of Maine in Orono during a recent weekend. On another April weekend, 10 students, along with LJCC advisors, held a retreat at the Aroostook Brigade Lodge in Stockholm to learn the skills needed to be successful in life.
“We want to teach our men to be men as they progress through life,” Tompkins said. “Relationships, life skills.”
Earlier this month, an LJCC group of students and advisors attended “A Call to Young Men(tors),” a conference held at the university in Orono. Limestone students joined a group of their counterparts from the Penobscot Job Corps in Bangor to hear speakers talk about breaking the cycle of domestic violence.
Presenters at the conference included Steve Rowe, Maine’s attorney general, and Tony Porter, co-founder of “A Call to Men: The National Association of Men and Women Committed to ending Violence Against Women.”
Tompkins explained that male students involved in the mentoring program are encouraged to find a buddy to whom they are accountable for exhibiting responsible behavior. For example, the students should ask each other whether they are on time for class or whether they are working in class, Tompkins said.
Although the students may believe that they are only in training for the workforce, they need to realize that they are preparing for life.
“This is training and I’m learning,” said Tompkins, regarding how the students should view their time at LJCC. ‘’It is a job for you right now.”
Starting with the core group, Tompkins hopes that the program will grow to include more students and more staff.
