Mentoring programs are great, but more focused effort needed to improve reading skills

Mentoring programs are a great thing.

They help kids – mostly kids in single-parent families – gain confidence and learn leadership and life skills from adults.

I’ve seen first-hand how beneficial they are, first as a “big brother” in the Big Brothers-Big Sisters program, and then as a participant in the TeamMates Mentoring program.

My “little brother” was the first in his family to graduate from hig…