Mentoring programs are great, but more focused effort needed to improve reading skills

Mentoring programs are a great thing.

They help kids – mostly kids in single-parent families – gain confidence, and learn leadership and life skills from adults.

I've seen first-hand how beneficial they are, first as a "big brother" in the Big Brothers-Big Sisters program, and then as a participant in the TeamMates Mentoring program.

My "little brother" was the first in his family to graduate from high school (imagine that!) and my TeamMate graduated from high school despite problems with attendance and discipline.

But I gotta say, when I read a recent story from the Flatwater Free Press about...