Sharon Mellette had a vision for the community. As a 22-year teacher in District 1, now serving as Dean of Students, Mellette developed a love and concern for the young ladies at Scott’s Branch Middle/High School.
Last year, Mellette began a mentoring program, working together with the 21st Century afterschool program. This year, she has continued the program and pulls girls ages 11-18 out of the afterschool program every Wednesday from 3:45-5 p.m.
I Am That Girl is a program designed to help young ladies in the community reach full potential. During these mentoring sessions, Mellette discusses topics such as conflict resolution among teens, how to identify and handle bullying situations, how to raise self-esteem and how to turn self-doubt into self-love.
Mellette seeks to help the girls develop leadership and social skills, and she is growing her program this year.
On Thursday night, Mellette is hosting an event to reach out to more girls in the community. Each girl has been invited, as have her parents, and permission slips were signed.
“I had a vision for the program to bless 100 girls with a blessing bag full of toiletries,” said Mellette. “Each bag contains anything from toothbrushes and toothpaste to lotion, lip gloss and other personal hygiene items. Some people even put encouraging cards and notes into the bags.”
Local churches and members of the community jumped in to help and have donated more than the hoped-for 100 bags, and Mellette plans to gift the extra bags throughout the year as needed.
“I’m hoping if more parents know about the program, they will sign their girls up to participate,” said Mellette, who is looking forward to Thursday’s event.
With a lengthy background in education, Mellette has seen areas of concern with the young ladies in the area. She started the program as a labor of love, hoping to instill self-respect and teach not only how to have healthy attitudes but also things such as comportment and etiquette. She works through mentoring sessions, mini-lectures and team-building exercises to bring the girls out of their shells.
“I’m starting really at the middle school level, because I feel as though if we can target some of the behavior and reach the students at this age, once they get to high school, we won’t deal with a lot of the issues,” said Mellette.
Although she is housed at Scott’s Branch, there are Manning young ladies who have been invited to Thursday night’s event. Mellette wishes for the program to reach across district lines. Throughout the program’s lifetime, she has received overwhelming community support and encouragement.
As the program grows, Mellette is looking for others willing to volunteer their time to help mentor the young ladies, or who might be able to speak to the girls on topics ranging from self-reliance and self-respect to proper table settings.
“I want to give exposure to new ideas and new surroundings,” said Mellette, who hopes to begin making field trips with the young ladies, as time and volunteers become available.
“We are definitely looking for other mentors and would absolutely love financial support,” said Mellette, who is currently seeking to establish a 501c status.
Anyone interested in mentoring or donating may contact Mellette at (803) 566-9555 or sdl4me@yahoo.com or they can find Sharon Mellette on Facebook and message her there.
