Mentoring is a part of No Child Left Behind and is seen as one of the tools which schools have to better meet the instructional needs of students. Sumner County Schools mentoring program, 1st Impressions, is aimed at supporting and retaining new teachers. Trained mentors are assigned to first year teachers by principals in 38 of Sumner County's schools.

1^st Impressions goals are:

• To improve teaching performance
• To establish a collaborative professional team responsible for providing assistance and support for new teachers
• To satisfy state-mandated requirements related to induction and certification, and
• To increase the retention of promising new members of the teaching staff during the induction years.

Questions or comments regarding the mentoring of first year teachers may be directed to 451-5246. For additional information, new teachers may want to link to the Blueprint for Learning and SchoolStation