Big Brothers Big Sisters Says Quality Mentoring Is Part of the Solution to America's Public Education Challenges

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Buzz about the Participant Media film, "Waiting for Superman," to be released this fall, is energizing parents, educators, child advocates, policy makers and others to take action to improve the odds that children will succeed in our nation's schools.  Big Brothers Big Sisters advocates for quality mentoring as part of the solution.

Waiting for Superman examines challenges within the nation's school system and raises questions about limited options available to many students.  The documentary film portrays the education system in the U.S. as a crisis that needs immediate attention.  Big Brothers Big Sisters supports Grad Nation, an America's Promise campaign to mobilize the nation to end the high school dropout crisis and prepare students for college, and has partnered with other mentoring advocates to take action.

"Together with MENTOR and Mentoring USA, Big Brothers Big Sisters launched 'Academic Achievement Through Mentoring' to link caring adult mentors with young people in the 2,000 lowest performing schools in the nation," said Big Brothers Big Sisters of America President and Chief Executive Officer Karen J. Mathis.  "We believe this film and the dialogue it generates will spur action in communities throughout the country."

Big Brothers Big Sisters, the nation's largest network of volunteer (supported by professional staff) mentors, cites longstanding independent research that proves quality mentoring is an important part of the equation for school success.  As more parents and schools seek quality mentoring support, the network reminds supporters that increased funding is needed to carefully make matches and to provide ongoing support that helps sustain mentoring relationships in order for them to have successful outcomes.  Big Brothers Big Sisters is also working with community partners to increase the number of male mentors, particularly African American and Hispanic men.  Boys of color disproportionately represent those waiting to be matched with Big Brothers.

About Big Brothers Big Sisters

For more than 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is the ability to succeed and thrive in life. Most children served by Big Brothers Big Sisters are in single-parent and low-income families or households where a parent is incarcerated. As the nation's largest donor and volunteer supported mentoring network, Big Brothers Big Sisters makes meaningful, monitored matches between adult volunteers ("Bigs") and children ("Littles").

Big Brothers Big Sisters provides a system of ongoing evaluation and support that is proven by independent studies to help families by improving the odds that "Littles" will perform better in school and avoid violence and illegal activities, and have stronger relationships with their parents and others. Headquartered in Philadelphia with a network of nearly 400 agencies across the country, Big Brothers Big Sisters serves more than 255,000 children. Learn how you can positively impact a child's life, donate, or volunteer at BigBrothersBigSisters.org.

SOURCE Big Brothers Big Sisters