PENTA Celebrates National Mentoring Month

With January marking National Mentoring Month, PENTA Communications, Inc. celebrates the power of mentoring. Its mentorship program, the PENTA Marketing Mentor Scholars™ program, which is entering its fifth year, was designed to make a positive impact on high school-aged college-bound students seeking careers in business.

This month, the PENTA scholars are heading to Avidia Bank for the “Business of Banking” segment of the program. Throughout the year, they meet at other companies as designed by PENTA to help the students experience the full gamut of business and marketing.

In 2016, PENTA partnered with the Westborough Public Schools to design an unprecedented introductory business course with an applied learning curriculum to familiarize students with marketing, innovation, and entrepreneurship, to further enrich their academic experience.

Since the program’s inception, PENTA has mentored more than 50 Westborough High School seniors.

“We are always excited to partner with PENTA for our business students to learn firsthand about the inner workings of their organization,” said School Superintendent Amber Bock. “PENTA is an example of an organization that goes out of its way to reach our schools.”

Throughout the program, students are encouraged to participate in open dialogue with business leaders and executives through site visits and roundtable discussions. The immersive experience offers access to numerous industries, including food & beverage, life sciences, manufacturing, software development, medical, business-to-business, and consumer direct.

“The PENTA Marketing Mentorship Scholar Program was a great experience for me. This program was able to give me access to experiences that I did not think I would have until much later in my career. I gained valuable insight into how businesses operate that is impossible to replicate in the classroom setting. This program helped me clarify my goals for the future and gave me the skills to be successful. I am incredibly grateful to the people of PENTA Marketing for organizing this program,” said PENTA Marketing Mentor Scholar Jonathan Ashton.

The myriad of industries that the students have exposure to helps them interactively learn about the landscape of business, while also providing mentorship support for future endeavors. The program is a compelling and thought-provoking opportunity to help grow tomorrow’s leaders.

“Providing mentorship opportunities to students is a way in which we can give back to inspire a brighter future, but even more importantly it’s an area where we can make an immediate impact that will help inspire someone’s life and future career,” said Deborah Penta, CEO of PENTA Communications, Inc. “When we or a member of our partner organizations take the time to talk with the students, share stories, journeys, and provide ideas or consult for the future, it’s really remarkable to see how much they appreciate it and value it enough to use what we are sharing to improve their current circumstance.”

“We have seen students inspired so much by an industry that they decide to study it in college, and we have also seen some of the students go on to obtain internships with the people that they have met through our program. Their confidence improves, and they become more comfortable interacting with CEOs and other members of the C-Suite at companies,” said Penta.

The National Mentoring Partnership reports that young adults who were at-risk for falling off track but had a mentor are 55 percent more likely to enroll in college and 130 percent more likely to hold leadership positions.

According to Big Brothers Big Sisters, students are 52 percent less likely than their peers to skip school when they regularly meet with a mentor, and 37 percent less likely to skip class.

“I have been very grateful to be a part of this program and to discover that this is what I want to do with my career. Not just have I found a passion for marketing, but I have also been inspired by Ms. Penta and her female leadership, as she heads her own company. I enjoy seeing her hard work and community engagement. I was drawn into her story, and the path she took to be where she is today,” said PENTA Marketing Mentor Scholar, Bethany Woodcock.

According to The National Mentoring Partnership, in the United States, 5.6 million individuals between the ages of 16 and 24 are disconnected from education and work. With more than 60 percent of new positions requiring post-secondary educations, mentors play an essential role in emphasizing the importance of education. Mentors can help students navigate the college application process and encourage them to complete their degrees. The National Mentoring Partnership also estimates that the human potential lost because of the educational achievement gap is equivalent to losses sustained in a permanent natural recession.

“PENTA has opened me up to endless opportunities and made so many connections to people in my local business community. I am so incredibly thankful to have been given this opportunity and so happy I got the chance to work with my peers and local professionals along the way,” said PENTA Marketing Mentor Scholar Ben Horsfall. “The PENTA program has taught me proper etiquette and behavior in the business world, which I believe are two important skills that are hard to learn anywhere else. Thank you so much for the opportunity.”

“The opportunity for students in our business courses to meet with local entrepreneurs is tremendous,” said Westborough High School Principal Brian Callaghan “The outreach by the PENTA Team is gracious. The teachers and students enjoy the authentic learning experience they receive.”