Thurmond said the aim of the mentoring program was to help thousands of public school students with basic tutoring, career coaching, and guidance about life in general from adult mentors.
Basically, it calls for adult mentors to pair with low-income students, students of color or any student who needs extra assistance.
The State Superintendent called upon organizations that provide mentoring to young people to join the initiative. The exact details of the mentoring program, he added, will be rolled in the coming weeks.
Thurmond said in a statement that the idea of creating such a mentoring program first occurred to him when he was running for office in 2018, but that the ongoing COVID pandemic initially forced him to shelve his plans. He added that the pandemic has underscored the need for such a program because of the additional hardships it poses to the targeted students.