ABSTRACT
Building high expectations is important for everyone involved in mentoring. Both students and adults can get caught in the low expectations they can be surrounded with. Field trips to other programs or schools that serve similar students but are high achieving can be the key to building higher expectations in our program. Seeing, hearing, and being in a successful program is irreplaceable, as mentors can read about successful programs and easily think there is are not our students. Sustaining expectations is the hardest part of keeping a mentoring program going. This is when mentors have to keep their mentee's eyes on the prize and making progress towards their goals. Finally, working with youth is hard, and requires a lot of patience. Celebrations of program or mentee success are important, and bringing together mentors to share experiences, and feel valued for their work, is vital. These events do not need to be lavish, but are vital for programmatic renewal.
