You... community member, business person, parent, senior citizen, retired teacher, high school or college kid... can enjoy this article right now because someone taught you how to read. There are students sitting in classrooms right now who can't. Others have trouble with math, or greatly need a relationship with a caring adult. Can you spare an hour a week to mentor a child?

You'll be joining a grand tradition. When Odysseus headed off to the Trojan Wars, he famously entrusted the education of his son Telemachus to his wise and loyal friend named Mentor. According to Wikipedia, Aristotle mentored Alexander the Great; Laurence Olivier mentored Anthony Hopkins; and Eddie Merckx [stet] mentored Lance Armstrong. Remember Obi-wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker? Luke needed Yoda, too.