Mentoring: It's a Good Thing

I'm a graduate of Rochester High School, so it was neat to see them get a mention in the Seattle Times:

For decades, the small, rural Rochester School District had a hard time keeping new teachers through their first five years.

But by participating in the New Teacher Project beginning last fall, the Thurston County district hopes to retain 85 percent of this year's 20 incoming instructors, said Assistant Superintendent Kim Fry. Rochester is one of seven school districts, along with two educational service districts, to join in the New Teacher Project. Spearheaded by the Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession (CSTP) with a four-year, $3 million grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the program aims to draw attention to mentoring and other ways that Washington's public schools can keep more of their beginning teachers.

The mentoring program they're moving away from sounds a lot like the one my district has now. Our mentor is a great lady with a ton of experience, but she's spread between 6 schools and doesn't live in the community, so it's hard to make a real connection.

If your district has a mentoring program, do you think it makes a difference?