TeamMates Mentoring (teammates.org) provides students in grades 3 through 12 with a one-to-one caring adult mentor from the community. While not an academic program, the nonprofit strives to provide the support and encouragement needed to help all youth mentees graduate from high school and achieve their post-secondary goals.
Each fall, Lincoln TeamMates staff engages in individualized postsecondary planning with every TeamMates senior to review scholarship opportunities, financial aid resources, and career planning. TeamMates continuously fundraises in order to provide scholarships to all students pursuing further education. The Lincoln chapter takes great pride in offering all eligible mentees a scholarship to help launch their postsecondary education.
“Given the high proportion of students living in low-income households, TeamMates scholarships make pursuing higher education more feasible,” said Jim Bennett, coordinator of Lincoln TeamMates.
The majority of TeamMates who pursue a post-secondary education are first-generation college students. Last spring, 27 seniors received a scholarship sponsored by local community partners. In collaboration with universities across Nebraska and surrounding states, the TeamMates national office is able to offer a number of scholarships to qualifying mentees as well.
If you would like to donate funds for a scholarship, please contact the TeamMates office at (402) 436-1990 or LincolnTeamMates@lps.org.