Starting this upcoming spring semester, The University of Akron students will have an opportunity to register for a three-credit “I Promise Urban Youth Mentorship Course.”

“University students completing this course will gain valuable tools and experiences working with urban youth in schools and at community events,” said Brad Maguth, an associate professor in the LeBron James Family Foundation College of Education. He will teach the course next semester.  

Students enrolled in the mentorship course will be expected to log 30 hours of mentorship activities that engage the youth in the Akron Public Schools. They will assess their performance on their “PROMISE” to LeBron: to provide support and guidance to youth in upholding their “PROMISE.”

Students must pass an FBI/BCI background check, which can be done at the UA Police Department.

Students who successfully complete the course requirements will become eligible for the I PROMISE Mentorship Certificate awarded by iCare Youth Mentorship. They will also be given the opportunity to join their mentees and families at special mentoring events sponsored by the LeBron James Family Foundation.

“Most of all, I see this as a great opportunity for those university students wanting to help build a supportive, caring relationship with academically vulnerable youth,” Maguth said.

The mentorship class is a graduate and undergraduate combined course only offering 35 seats this upcoming semester. I Promise Urban Youth Mentorship will be offered Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:10 p.m. to 4:25 p.m. only. Undergraduate students can find the course using registration code 5500:480:803 and graduate students should use registration code 5500:627:801.

Maguth said curriculum proposals are now under review that would offer an ongoing course in Urban Youth Mentorship every semester through the LeBron James Family Foundation College of Education.