Effects of Mentorship and Spirituality on Youth Thriving

Evaluating the Village Christian 1:5® Circles of Care Program

 

Project Dates

May 2016—January 2018

 

Research Team
  • Pamela King, Principal Investigator
  • Casey Taylor, Student Researcher

 

Project Overview

There is an abundance of literature about the positive influence of mentorship in the lives of adolescents. In order to further explore the influence of mentorship in the lives of adolescents, we studied the 1:5® Circles of Care program, a mentorship initiative developed at Village Christian School (VCS) in Sun Valley, California meant to surround students with caring adults who can help them thrive. This study observes the qualities of the mentor-mentee relationships in the lives of these high school students at VCS. The qualities of these relationships have been studied with the aim of discovering the effects on adolescent thriving of trust, quality time, and shared vision in the mentor relationships. The Thrive Center sought to accomplish the following:

  1. Assess students’ perceptions of the quantity and quality of their mentorship relationships;
  2. Assess the students’ understanding of 1:5® Circles of Care; and
  3. Provide recommendations on how to enhance and improve the mentorship program based on findings from students.

We convened and facilitated six focus groups that included roughly 60 students from VCS. These focus groups included one freshmen group, two sophomore groups, two junior groups, and one senior group with approximately an equal number of boys and girls. Surveys were also conducted to collect data from the students’ self-reports, and used to measure thriving indicators and faith outcomes in the lives of the students who have participated in the program.

 

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Funded by

The Thrive Center was commissioned by Village Christian School to examine and conduct research on their 1:5® Circles of Care Program.