Â鶹´«Ã½

The program offers mentoring and academic support to students from underprivileged backgrounds or who have great needs. For Jones, communicating with the students is key.

“It was really to get some feedback from the students to get an understanding of what perceive to be their growth areas,� Jones said. “What type of experience or opportunities would they would they like to partake in?

“Students will find a passion and desire for learning if they see something that sparks it. So, part of the curriculum was experiential learning, exposure. The more you expose a child to, the more options they know that are available for them in the future.�

The organization has come a long way since its founding in 1997.

According to the Talbot Mentors website, in 2019, Mid-Shore Scholars was founded by Marshall and Loretta Blume. They sought to support high-achieving, low-income students on their journey to college.

“In 2020, Mid-Shore Scholars (now known as the Scholars program) joined Talbot Mentors and is a hallmark program of the organization. Our goal is that 100% of our scholars get into college, 100% stay in college, and 100% graduate and enter into promising careers and become mentors in our program or any programs that serve youth and provide an opportunity to pay it forward,� the website stated.

With the vision from the Blume family, Jones and the Talbot Mentors staff have catapulted the program into mentoring, academic support and coaching for multiple life skills.

“Sometimes our students come and they don’t have networks in place that, again, some people who come from different backgrounds, they have these built-in networks,� Jones said. “... So, my thinking was our organization could help build that network, could be that fabric for students.�

Talbot Mentors focuses on two programs, mentoring and the Scholars program. The mentoring problem runs from elementary school through high school, while the scholars program is recruitment based starting at eighth grade, supporting them all the way through college.

In addition to their programs, Talbot Mentors also takes time out to teach students Jones called “soft skill.�

“There’s some soft skills that again that contribute to success,� Jones said. “Schedule time management, scheduling etiquette, professionalism, those things are like things that we found at the important drivers and success students.

“So with those focuses, we just execute on those by one incorporating, the soft skill side, incorporating, literal like activities and lessons that highlight those things, the intangibles that we see that successful people have.�

Every year, Talbot Mentors has multiple college graduates walk the stage and this year is no different. In the class of 2025, Talbot Mentors had four graduates from prestigious universities.

Genevieve Loveland graduated from American University, Cody Campbell and Shanille Rollins graduated from Towson University, Naiset Perez graduated from Dartmouth University and Andrey Perez graduated from Washington College.

Rollins earned a mass communications degree. She joined Talbot Mentors in 2019 and said Talbot Mentors helped her navigate being a first-generation college student.

“I was a first gen college student. The program really helped me put my foot in the door and helped me not go in with any confusion,� Rollins said. “They helped me with the process, they let me know, like, what life would look like when I was there and they supported me throughout that whole entire set.�

Rollins said the program helped her and others so much, she recommends future college students to join.

“It’s such a great resource,� Rollins said. “You build a lot of connections, and it helps you get further in the community, and it opens you to opportunities you didn’t know that were there before, and it really sets you up for your college career.�

Jones described the joy he feels from seeing students graduate.

“So many of these students have overcome so much, and to make it to the college finish line, you know, with with high honors and job opportunities,� Jones said. “It’s been a truly magical thing to be a part of.�