Families, students and young adults in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake and the rest of Hampton Roads can work with a Blackburn mentor online. Each person has one dedicated mentor, video sessions in Eastern time and text and phone contact between meetings. Because our team is in Los Angeles and sessions are online, a mentor can stay with a family even if they move.
A region shaped by the water and the military
Hampton Roads is a collection of cities around one of the largest natural harbors on the East Coast, linked by bridges and tunnels that everyone has opinions about. Naval Station Norfolk is one of the largest naval bases in the world, and Army, Air Force, Marine and Coast Guard installations dot the region. Shipbuilding and ship repair employ thousands. Virginia Beach adds the Oceanfront and a tourism season; Chesapeake and Suffolk add farmland, new subdivisions and a quieter pace.
Why continuity matters for military-connected kids
Many teenagers here have already moved several times. Each move means a new school, new friends and a new set of expectations, often in the middle of a year, and sometimes with a parent deployed. One thing that does not have to change is the mentor. Because sessions are by video, a mentor can keep working with a student through a permanent change of station move and into the next school, wherever it is in the United States.
A mentor can help a military-connected student:
- Keep a consistent weekly routine during a deployment, when the household schedule shifts.
- Get organized before a move: records, contacts and a plan for the first weeks at a new school.
- Set small social goals after arriving somewhere new.
- Stay on track with long-term plans, such as graduation requirements, that cross state lines.
Mentors do not replace the school liaisons and family support programs on base; they work alongside them with the family’s permission.
Young adults weighing service, shipyards and school
Young people in Hampton Roads often have unusually concrete options in front of them: enlisting, an apprenticeship at a shipyard, a skilled trade, community college or a four-year degree. A mentor helps a young adult sort through those choices with real information, talk to people who have taken each route and commit to a next step. See choosing a trade and trade school vs. college. Recruiters and admissions offices give the formal advice; a mentor helps the young adult think it through.
Session times
Hampton Roads is three hours ahead of Los Angeles. After-school sessions at 4 or 5 pm Eastern are 1 or 2 pm for the mentor, and evening sessions suit shift workers and parents. Sessions are 30 or 60 minutes, weekly or several times a week, on a weekly or monthly plan.
How it starts
- Take a short assessment. Tell us about the student or yourself and the goals. It takes about five minutes.
- Have a free intro call. Our team reviews it personally and sets up a short call.
- Meet the mentor. We match each person with a mentor whose experience and style fit.
- Start the plan. 30 or 60 minute video sessions on a weekly or monthly plan, scheduled in your local time.
Where a mentor helps
A mentor is one steady person outside the family who helps with goals, routines and follow-through. For high school students, a parent or guardian joins the intro call, agrees the goals and receives regular progress updates; see mentoring for high school students and mentoring for families. Our online mentoring page explains video sessions, and mentoring in Virginia covers the state.
Related
- Online mentoring in Richmond
- Online mentoring in Northern Virginia
- When a teen has no friends
- Young adult mentoring
Common questions
Can the same mentor keep working with my child after a military move?
Yes. Sessions are online and scheduled in your local time, so the mentor can continue wherever you are stationed in the United States.
Can a deployed parent stay involved?
Often, yes. Progress updates can go to both parents with permission, and the at-home parent stays involved in goal setting.
Do you have an office in Norfolk or Virginia Beach?
No. Our team is in Los Angeles, and Hampton Roads mentoring is entirely by video.
Get started
Would a steady mentor help your family through the next move? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.