ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- Sierra Mims met her mentor in the fourth grade. It's a day etched deeply in her memory.
She recalls being summoned to a room in her school and having a woman call her name.
"She said my name and I didn't know her," said Mims, adding that she quickly learned how friendly her new mentor was.
Over the next eight years, Addie Kirksey became like a second mother to Mims, sharing in her joys and sorrows, giving advice and praying for her when she had a test to take.
"She helped me to read when I was struggling," said Mims, who will graduate from high school this month and hopes to one day become a pediatric nurse.
For Mims, Kirksey has been someone she could talk to about anything, someone she could pray with and someone she knew would be there every week.
Anniston Army Depot's mentors give an hour of their time each week for students in local school systems, but that hour can mean so much to students who don't have many people in their lives they can depend on.
"It gives the kids another person," said Brenda Hill, a counselor for Anniston High School and Randolph Park Elementary. "It's someone from the outside who is showing them love and concern. Sometimes, they will tell the mentor things they won't tell us."
For some students, they need an individual in their life who will check on them.
That's what Kennie Miller has been for Andrew Raether.
"Every time I see him, he asks how I'm doing in school," Raether said.
Because he knows Miller cares, it's encouraged Raether to work hard in school and to ask Miller for advice on issues he faces.
"I've watched him grow and mature over the years," said Miller. "As a mentor, you try to give them an optimistic point of view."
Both Kirksey and Miller have been mentors for about eight years. Thoughts of their own children encouraged them to give their time.
"I found out there were students who needed to be encouraged and who needed someone to be there," said Kirksey.
Sondra Leatherwood, a counselor for Saks High School, said the mentors often inspire children to stay in school.
She mentioned one student in the program who, in a few years, will be the first in his family to earn a high school diploma.
Ally Sammons and her mentor have been together since Sammons was in the fifth grade.
Charlene Stallings was so dedicated to the mentorship program that, after she retired from ANAD, she continued to mentor Sammons through the school system.
"When I was in middle school, I was quiet. I used to never talk," said Sammons. "When she became my mentor, I started opening up. She's my rock."
Having someone to talk with and ask advice from helped Sammons learn to handle things in her home life, which enabled her to be a more productive student.
She is now preparing to enter college at Jacksonville State University and plans to major in criminal justice.
Col. Martine Kidd, ANAD's commander, recognized the seniors in the mentorship program and their mentors May 11, during a luncheon.
"Mentorship and having someone you are helping guide through their life is so important," she said. "Growing up is a challenge and it takes a lot of people to help you on the way."
Currently, ANAD's Mentoring Program partners with Anniston City Schools, Oxford City Schools and Calhoun County Schools.
ANAD's mentoring is a one-on-one relationship through which an adult will foster the development of character and competence in a young person.
ANAD initiated its mentoring program in Calhoun County in 1996 to assist students in local school systems who have been identified as at risk.
Being at-risk often simply means these students need a friend with some normalcy in their life.
The Mentoring Program currently has 22 volunteers who help make a difference in a child's life. If you would like to learn more about the depot's Mentoring Program, contact Marilyn Futrell at 256-741-5266.
Social Sharing