Students will:

• define mentor.
• determine who their mentors are.
• learn who Dr. Jane’s mentors were.
• read about famous mentor pairs and relationships.
• label tree roots with mentor names.
• research ways to find a new mentor and develop a relationship.
• listen to Dr. jane read a story about mentors.
• journal about whether they need a mentor and how to develop a relationship with him/her.

• One 40-minute session and one optional, in class or out of class activity

• Student trees
• Dr. Jane’s tree

Everyone needs another to help guide them at some point in their lives. Mentors are invaluable for what they can teach us, whether we know we are learning from them or not. Students can reflect on the people in their lives who fill the role of mentor. They can then continue to build their trees by adding their mentors to their tree roots.

1. Direct the class to Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary to find the definition of mentor. Draw students’ attention to the word’s etymology and first definition – from the Greek word, “Mentor,” a friend of Odysseus entrusted with the education of Odysseus’ son Telemachus.
2. Have students take the first quiz.
3. Have them take the second quiz and compare which quiz was easier.
4. Ask students to read the mentor section of Dr. Jane’s Scrapbook.
5. Direct students to the Mentor Hall of Fame to learn about famous mentor pairs. Then have them read stories of mentoring relationships.
6. Ask the class to add their mentors to their tree roots.
7. For an optional in-class or out-of-class activity, have students learn how to find a new mentor, the tips for success, and what to expect from a mentor.
8. Ask students to listen to Dr. Jane tell the story of the Eagle and the Wren. Have students complete their journal entries by asking them to describe one of the following:
   • A time when they were a mentor
   • A time when they were mentored
   • How they would express their interests to a potential mentor
   • Whether or not they need a mentor to achieve their dreams

Have students:

• demonstrate the meaning of the word mentor.
• compare their answers to two quizzes. Was one easier to answer?
• show their knowledge of famous mentor pairs. Were there any interesting relationships?
• communicate how their mentors have already helped shape their lives.
• share their experiences in a previous or current mentor relationship or reflect on whether they will need a mentor to achieve their dreams and how they would develop such a relationship.

• Anthropologist – One who studies human beings in relation to distribution, origin, classification, and relationship of races, physical character, environmental and social relations, and culture.
• Mentor – A trusted counselor or guide.
• Paleontologist - A science dealing with the life of past geological periods as known from fossil remains.