As today's youth become tomorrow's leaders, the Workforce Development Resource Center's mentoring program helps them make this transition in their lives.

"It is very important for children to have a good role model, someone to look up to and ask for guidance," said Trish Blanton, special programs coordinator for the WDRC. "Many role models today -- like movie stars, athletes and rappers -- are so out of reach."

Two programs under the WDRC and the Workforce Investment Act, the Leadership Development Program and the Support Training Employability for Personal Success,

provide mentors to 14 to 21 year-olds.

Goals of the mentoring program include teaching self sufficiency, building self-esteem, teaching life skills, giving them guidance and just providing someone to talk to, Blanton said.

The program began on Aug. 30 by pairing three kids with three adults and taking a field trip to Carter Caves Resort Park in Kentucky. The mentoring program is expanding, but currently there are only 10 mentors and 35 kids that need mentoring, Blanton said.

"If people care about the community of Ironton this is one way they can change it for the better by working with the future of Ironton," Blanton said.

Tom Cantrell, of South Point and a first time mentor, has been working with 17-year-old James Christopher Brown also of South Point.

"I want to give someone else the same chances I had," Cantrell said. "I want to show him there is a better life, a chance to be who he wants to be, establish the self confidence he needs to get his education and put his goals into action."

"A small amount of time means more than any words or pay could inspire," Cantrell said.

Brown agrees that the program has been good for him and said they have more in common than he thought.

"We talked about our pasts," Brown said. "We are more similar than I thought. I thought we were totally different but, we were really the same in different areas."

Brown hopes the program can continue to grow.

"There are kids here who need support and somebody to talk to," he said. "I would like to see more people step up and be mentors. When I turn 18 and get out of the program, I would definitely come back and be a mentor if they would let me."

Sara Malone, also a first-time mentor,

said she thinks she has already built a trusting relationship with 15-year-old Crystal Hensley of Ironton.

"The most rewarding part is getting to know the kids and see a difference in them after they

have completed the program," she said.

Hensley said the best part of the program is the people that work there.

"Everyone there just acts like teens," she said. "It makes them easier to talk to."

Amy Payne, 16, of Ironton, agrees that the people really make the program and likes her mentor, Willie Massie.

"She is really cool, someone I can actually relate to," Payne said. "She is like a big sister."

Massie said she is happy to be able to give something back and would like to continue their relationship after the mentoring program ends.

Mentors must pass a background check and attend a two-hour training session. The next session is Oct. 7 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Anyone interested in becoming a mentor should contact Blanton at 532-3140 ext. 223.