About Us

 West Chester University 

College of Education 

Young Urban Leaders Mentoring Program 

(YULP) 

Overview 

The Young Urban Leaders Mentoring Program (YULP) is a program developed for 

young men who want to become educators, teachers, counselors, and administrators in 

public schools and who demonstrate key characteristics of young outstanding leaders in 

education, civic, social organizations and within their respective communities. YULP 

seeks to fill the gap in the field of public education that presently exists between teachers 

who come from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and who also come from 

under-served communities. YULP seeks to pair a professional mentor in the field of 

education with a pre-service teacher who seeks diverse teaching experiences in both 

urban ‘high-needs’ and suburban schools. YULP seeks to prepare these young men for 

the ever changing and exciting field of education by coupling their undergraduate and 

graduate pre-service teaching program with mentors who are teachers, principals, 

counselors, special education case managers, and supervisors in regular public schools. A 

number of Lincoln University’s undergraduate student body come from Philadelphia and 

the suburban areas that make up our five-county region. 

Professional Mentoring 

Teachers and administrators who serve as professional mentors will meet with their 

mentee at least once during the fall and spring semesters and once over the summer. We 

hope to encourage at least one job shadowing day when mentees can follow you and 

observe your daily routine as a professional and have time to debrief with you their 

reflections. It is also a goal that in your role as a mentor, you will: 

a. assist your mentee with professional tips, and social networks that can assist him 

with transitioning into the profession after completing his student teaching. 

b. assist him with lesson planning, long and short term professional goals and sound 

advice on what it means to be a professional teacher and educator 

c. both you and your principal will serve as a mentoring team to support the student 

in his needs 

d. develop rapport with assisting the youth with possible pre-service teaching 

opportunities available within your school district or community. 

Benefits of a Mentoring Relationship 

For the Mentor 

o Shaping the future of the field of education 

o Personal satisfaction 

o Giving back to the profession 

o Reviewing your own strengths and weaknesses 

o Learning from your protégé 

For the Protégé –Mentee 

o Having a person to turn to with a substantive, procedure or ethics question 

and learning about the changing profession of education 

o Increased productivity and performance 

o Enhanced reputation and professionalism 

o Objective feedback on skills 

o Increased early career satisfaction 

The YULP program will invite interested participants to a informational meeting in the 

Winter 2009 and will work with the Delaware Valley Minority Student Achievement 

Consortium (DVMSAC) under Dr. Robert L. Jarvis. YULP believes that a mentoring 

partnership with a student from a culturally and linguistically diverse and under-served 

background is an important and powerful first-step at dismantling the opportunity and 

achievement gap identified by the research in the field of education. Public school 

teachers, Universities and community organizations are on the front line as the first 

responders to address these issues. 

We hope that you will join us by taking part in this very exciting and worthwhile program 

that can be tailored to fit both the unique needs of your school and professional 

community, as well as our pre-service teachers’ professional developmental needs. If you 

should require any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us.