First Lady Michelle Obama has announced a year-long mentoring program at the White House for high school girls from the surrounding neighborhood.
The 13 chosen students gathered in the State Dining room on Monday to meet the White House staff members who will serve as their mentors.
According to the Washington Post mentors include senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, domestic policy advisor Melody Barnes, Obama’s chief of staff Susan Sher and social secretary Desiree Rogers.
The young women, who were selected by their principals, will not be traditional interns but will be tutored by their mentors on everything from careers and financial literacy to how to write a college essay and health and fitness.
Mrs. Obama said she became interested in the power of mentoring as a corporate lawyer in Chicago. Her office, she said, was on the 47th floor of a downtown building and her windows faced south towards her old neighborhood. Kids who were just as smart and capable as she was missed out on opportunities and successes “by a hair,” she said.
“We’ve got the most powerful seat in the land to be a bridge-builder,” she told the girls, her eyes tearing and voice cracking. “And I’m so excited and touched and moved to have you all here…. I can get emotional.”
A young men’s program, rooted in the West Wing, will launch soon.
Information from the Washington Post and Eurweb.com contributed to this report.
