Mentor Newark: Changing Young Lives One Seed at a Time

The Newark Public Schools system is the largest in the state serving a predominantly African American and Hispanic community. A disproportionate amount of these students come from low income and underserved households, yet 94% of them attend school daily.

Still, according to data from the New Jersey Department of Education, two thirds of the teenagers in Newark have less than a 20% chance of graduating from college. But despite these disparities, students are finding success through supportive programs including Mentor Newark – an initiative that provides guidance, support and mentorship to youth often left behind.

“There are great programs dropped right here on this concrete and they never work because you never till the soil. We go to schools, we till the soil,” said Thomas Owens, Mentor Newark executive director. “We bring imagination, we show them. We crack the ground, water it and then when that ground is ready, we can drop stuff in and it’ll grow. But if the ground is not ready, who’s tilling the soil?”

One of the first things you notice when you approach the exhibit space is the Prince sign. But as Owens noted, for children from the city it represents more than the legendary musician.

“If you’re not from Newark you don’t get it. Even though it says Prince, people call it the Newark sign because it’s done in the style of Newark,” Owens said adding that the museum exhibit will be on display until the end of year.

“It’s about purposely driving the students outside of their comfort zone,” he said. “When you step into the space you are engrossed with not only pictures of the artist, but quotes written by the students. They also take part as tour guides in showing and telling the story of the curation of the museum and its elements.”

Several Newark youth shared their thoughts on what they have learned as a result of being involved with the Mentor Newark program.

“Mentor Newark helped me learn how to speak to adults and how to speak up more because I’m usually very nervous,” said Jushiya Dungee (Great Oaks Legacy Charter High School, 10th grade).

“Never be afraid to ask because the worst answer you can receive is a ‘no.’ Have confidence in yourself, who you are as a person, and don’t be afraid if that doesn’t conform to everyone else’s perspective,” said Princess-Olivia Clarke (Bard High School Early College, 11th grade).

“Some of my friends and I have a business called West Side Avenue and we sell hot sauce. One day we learned about the Mentor Newark program and how we could improve our business. We enrolled and we have become student apprentices. It’s made a really positive difference,” said Roshaughn Barker (West Side School, 12th grade).