"We work with mentors from Amarillo to Harlingen and from El Paso to Longview. Our staff created the distance learning program to resolve the geographical and financial challenges for mentors to attend required training at the Seaborne campus in Galveston," said Peggy Baldwin, assistant director of Seaborne ChalleNGe Corps. "Our mentors, like our students, deserve an alternative to reach a successful outcome."

To be accepted into the Seaborne ChalleNGe Corps program, Corps Members must identify a mentor from their hometown. As part of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program core strategy, mentors are required to go through mentor training. The distance learning program meets or exceeds the national mentoring standards as established by the National Mentoring Partnership. These standards encompass mentor recruiting, screening, training, matching, monitoring and support.

Using the distance learning program, adult volunteer mentors in Texas are able to report to regional Army National Guard armories in their hometown area and receive the three-hour Seaborne ChalleNGe Basic Mentor Training. Mentors see, hear and interact with the instructor and classmates from across the state and experience the distance learning training in real-time, with no delay.

Broadcasting the distance learning training sessions eliminates training travel expenses and significantly reduces the travel requirements for potential mentors. It also encourages mentors, who might not otherwise be able to participate, to support an at-risk youth in his or her part of the state.

"Mentors have applauded our efforts to bring the necessary training to them in such a convenient way," said Mike Weir, Assistant Director of Programming. "Seaborne is always looking for creative and effective ways to bring more resources to our Corps Members because they deserve a second chance for a better future."

To become a mentor you must be the same gender as the youth, at least 21 years of age, reside within a reasonable distance of the Corps Member and agree to a criminal background check. You may not be a member of the family or a resident in the same household as the Corps Member.

Mentors are expected to attend distance learning or on-site training provided by the ChalleNGe program, begin building a relationship with the Corps Member during the residential phase, continue the mentor-mentee relationship through visits, mail or email and telephone during the post-residential phase and submit a monthly progress report to the ChalleNGe program.

Seaborne ChalleNGe Corps is the Texas site of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program. It is an alternative education program for 16- to 18-year-old youth who are not reaching their academic potential in their home high school. Located on Fort Point in Galveston, Texas, the Seaborne ChalleNGe campus annually serves approximately 300 of the 30,000 high school dropouts in Texas.

Seaborne ChalleNGe Corps, an initiative of the Texas National Guard and Texas A&M University-Galveston, reclaims the potential of at-risk youth through education, distance learning, training and volunteer service, and provides the values, skills, education and self-discipline they need to succeed. The three-phase program teaches Corps Members the importance of community service, job skills, physical fitness, nutrition and academic excellence.

The National Guard Youth Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization formed to support the work of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program through public awareness, scholarships, distance learning, higher education assistance, mentoring and job development programs for graduates. The Foundation is also working to expand the number of states and sites per state to accommodate growing demand for the distance learning program. The Chairman is General John Conaway, former Chief of the National Guard Bureau. The Honorary Board of Directors is co-chaired by Former President George H. W. Bush and former Senator Max Cleland.