CORDAN JAMES
Our Mission
The Comeback Kid Mentorship Program empowers families and individuals by promoting social-emotional growth and personal development. Through evidence-based mentorship, we provide essential tools for youth and their families to thrive, fostering belonging, identity, and resilience in a supportive environment.
Mentoring is a powerful strategy for empowering young people. The Comeback Kid Mentorship Program, led by Cordan James, offers one-on-one sessions and group activities, providing practical solutions for dropout prevention and promoting social and emotional learning. With a focus on personal and professional development, this initiative aims to make a significant impact on youth.
CORDAN JAMES
Our Vision
We envision a world where everyone feels they belong and can confidently face life’s challenges.
Our holistic and evidence-based mentorship approach builds resilient communities based on healthy family dynamics, emotional intelligence, and mutual support, creating empowered youth who drive positive change.
CORDAN JAMES
OUR APPROACH
Mentoring is a time-proven strategy that can help young people of all circumstances achieve their potential. Mentors are caring individuals who, along with parents or guardians, provide young people with support, counsel, friendship, reinforcement and a constructive example.
However, we understand that mentoring is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. We recognize that each person who could benefit from a mentoring relationship has unique needs. Our effective mentoring programs are designed with enough flexibility to cater to each mentee’s personal needs, while still providing a safe structure for mentoring relationships to thrive.
The Commitment to Mentorship
The Comeback Kid Mentorship Program is a comprehensive one-year initiative. Mentors and mentees engage in one-on-one sessions, dedicating a substantial four hours per month to the mentorship. Each month, the program offers two to four sessions, including the Why Try program and others focused on relationship-building and empowerment, ideally held in the Mentees Community.
3 Steps of the Comeback
Step 1: Social Emotional Skills –In Step 1, mentors establish relationships with the Comeback Kid using an evidence-based approach to process everyday experiences. This step restores a sense of belonging, preserves identity, and provides real-world coping mechanisms for effective decision-making, confidence building, and resilience.
Step 2: Personal and Professional Development : The Comeback Kid Mentorship Program at full fidelity requires a year-long commitment. Mentors meet with mentees one-on-one, dedicating four hours per month to mentorship. Each month, there are four sessions: Session One is for the Why Try program, and the others for relationship-building and empowerment, held in the Mentees Community as much as possible. We love Trash Pickups, Trampoline Parks, Basketball Courts, Roller Skating, Dance Parties and more.
Step 3: Community and Belonging – Mentees are not alone in their journey. They become part of a community of peers and mentors, participating in a variety of group socials, volunteer events, wellness activities, podcasts, and workshops.
The Story of Why Try
CORDAN JAMES
THE WHY TRY PROGRAM
The Why Try Program was created to provide simple, hands-on solutions for dropout prevention, violence prevention, truancy reduction, and increased academic success.
The idea is straightforward: teach social and emotional principles to youth in a way they can understand and remember. The Why Try curriculum utilizes a series of ten visual analogies that teach important life skills like
- Decisions have consequences
- Dealing with peer pressure
- Obeying laws and rules
- Plugging-in to support systems
The visual analogies are reinforced through creative use of music, hands-on activities, and multimedia. WhyTry curriculum engages all major learning styles (visual, auditory, and body-kinesthetic).
WhyTry is an evidence based social and emotional learning (SEL) program Researchers have independently verified that WhyTry improves
- Locus of Control
- Ability to Set and Achieve Goals
- Relationships with Teachers and Fellow Students
- Classroom Engagement
- Attendance Records
- Academic Performance
- Dropout Prevention
- Violence Prevention
- Increased Academic Success
WhyTry Helps Students Master The Life Skills They Need To Succeed At School, At Home, And In Life.
- Curriculum for every age group K-12
- Flexible, online toolkit and prepacked lessons
- Evidence based programs and interventions
- Engaging activities and multimedia
Our WhyTry Program For Youth Is Developed Around The 5 CASEL Competencies
- Self-Awareness
- Self-Management
- Social Awareness
- Relationship Skills
- Responsible Decision Making
Our 10 step program teaches critical social and emotional life skills. We help our youth answer the question Why Try? Why should I put effort into life, school, or work? The WHYTRY strength-based approach can help our children look at their challenges differently. To ensure you reap all these benefits, we follow a intentional and trauma informed and flexible model.
Explore Our Approach!
- The Reality Ride – Show them that decisions have consequences
- Tearing off your label – Teaches them that negative labels can hurt your future and positive labels can help them achieve their goals and attain better opportunities
- Defense Mechanisms – Pressure situations are best handled by maintaining control of our emotions and selecting positive defense mechanisms
- Motivational Formula- You can take your challenges and channel them into positive motivation. First to better yourself and then to turn outward to help others.
- Climbing out – When you put the tools from the visual metaphors into actions, and when you develop an awareness of the positive and negative ways that others can influence you, you will be prepared to avoid negative behaviors and their consequences.
- Jumping your hurdles – “Jumping hurdles” teaches that while everyone experiences setbacks, successful people “jump back up” and keep trying.
- Desire, Time, Effort – Anything worthwhile in life requires time, and effort. There are no shortcuts to achieving success.
- Lifting the Weight – Living by laws and rules and developing self-discipline will make you stronger, opening the doors of opportunity for the future
- Getting Plugged in- Getting help is not a weakness, it is a strength! Challenges become easier when you have a positive support system to help you overcome them.
- You can see over the Wall – Each decision we make has a consequence. The decisions we make today directly affect the future
Our programs incorporate powerful tools that engage students with pictures, videos, media, hands on activities, music, journals, and more. All of these tools are used to teach critical social and emotional life skills in a way that they can understand and remember.
Click below to schedule a FREE one-on-one meet and greet with Cordan James to find out how The Comeback Kid Mentorship Program can benefit your child and to learn more about our evidence based approach.
CORDAN JAMES
SAMPLE LEARNING UNITS
1: SHOW THEM THAT DECISIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.
“The Reality Ride” uses a picture of a roller coaster to demonstrate that each decision we make has a consequence. The decisions we make today directly affect the future.
2: HELP THEM TEAR OFF THEIR LABELS.
“Tearing Off Your Label” teaches that negative labels can hurt your future, and positive labels can help you achieve your goals and attain better opportunities. Ultimately, the label you wear depends on you: you can change your negative labels by changing your actions and showing others your positive traits.
3: TEACH THEM HOW TO CONTROL THEIR DEFENSE MECHANISMS.
“Defense Mechanisms” teaches that pressure situations are best handled by maintaining control of our emotions and selecting positive defense mechanisms (those that don’t hurt yourself or others).
4: SHOW THEM HOW TO USE THEIR CHALLENGES AS POSITIVE FUEL.
“The Motivation Formula” uses a picture of a river running through dams to show how you can take your challenges and channel them into positive motivation: first to better yourself, then to turn outward and help others.
