Martha Ryan, Public School Liaison for DCMO BOCES, and Commerce Chenango President and CEO, Salvatore Testani accepted a proclamation from the Chenango County Board of Supervisors declaring November as Mentorship Month. (Submitted photo)

CHENANGO COUNTY – At their November meeting, the Chenango County Board of Supervisors declared the month of November as Mentorship Month.

The celebration marks the successful completion of the DCMO BOCES Mentorship Program Pilot and the transition of the program to the Regional Mentorship Program to be led in the Chenango County region by Commerce Chenango.

Receiving the proclamation were, the Public and Martha Ryan School Liaison for DCMO BOCES, and Commerce Chenango President and CEO, Salvatore Testani.

Ryan addressed board members and said, “Your efforts today send a very strong message to our community that mentoring is a powerful tool to keep our young workers right here in our region.”

Testani commented. “We were thrilled to be able to help support this program,” he said. “By fostering mentorship, we are not merely investing in education; we are investing in the sustained growth and prosperity of our community. The success of this program speaks for itself and we are honored to be a part of it.”

The Foundation for South Central New York funded the new mentorship platform that will recruit new mentors and will provide online access to students. Stacy Mastrogiacomo, the foundation’s Program Officer expressed their excitement about the program by saying, “We were thrilled to be able to help support this program.

By fostering mentorship, we are not merely investing in education; we are investing in the sustained growth and prosperity of our community. The success of this program speaks for itself and we are honored to have been a part of it.” In addition to the financial support from the Community Foundation for South Central New York the program recruitment efforts were funded by The Greater Norwich Foundation, Visions FCU, and the mentorship pilot implemented in 2023 was funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission.

According to Ryan, Commerce Chenango is well-positioned to lead the program in collaboration with the Otsego and Delaware County chambers, making it able to serve not only BOCES students, but all school students in the region. Ryan added that the program is looking for volunteer mentors to begin serving students in February of 2024. Individuals interested in volunteering as a mentor can contact Jenna Ostrander at Commerce Chenango at 607-334-1400.