[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 31, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E80]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       REINTRODUCTION OF THE TRANSITION-TO-SUCCESS MENTORING ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ANDRE CARSON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 31, 2023

  Mr. CARSON. Mr. Speaker, as we mark National Mentoring Month, I am 
proud to reintroduce legislation to the Transition-To-Success Mentoring 
Act to help local education agencies prepare at-risk students for the 
transition from middle school to high school. I would like to thank 
MENTOR for their endorsement of this bill and Senator Booker for his 
leadership on this legislation in the Senate.
  I have had many mentors at every stage of my life, whether it was my 
theatre teacher in school who encouraged me to be who l am and elevated 
the confidence in myself to pursue sports, or my grandmother who raised 
me and a reason I find myself following her large footsteps. Mentors 
are important at every stage in life and especially at a young age. Our 
children need to foster these mentor/mentee relationships to look up to 
someone bigger than themselves.
  The Transition-To-Success Mentoring Act would establish a grant 
program for school-based mentoring programs targeted at helping at-risk 
middle school students transition from middle to high school. Under my 
legislation, participating students would develop and execute a 
formalized plan for success in high school and beyond, and be supported 
by a school faculty member or volunteer from the community known as a 
``Success Coach.''
  Middle school is a uniquely challenging time for students and 
ensuring a smooth transition from middle to high school is critical to 
their long-term success. School-based mentoring is innovative 
supplement to the traditional learning that takes place in the 
classroom, providing underserved and at-risk students with attention 
and support to keep them engaged in school. This legislation is a small 
step towards providing some of the most vulnerable students with 
individual attention to help cross the bridge towards high school, 
college, and career.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in recognizing the 
need for mentors for our children by signing on to this important 
legislation.