From: Daniel Bassill (tutormentor2@EARTHLINK.NET)
Date: 08/25/03
Tutor/Mentor Connection News
Linking ideas, programs and people to help inner city kids. A Program of
Cabrini Connections.
<p>Back-to-School Editorial:
285,000 children in Chicago attend failing schools.
What can we do about it?
This is what editorial writers in Chicago are talking about as school gets
set to start. Are there similar headlines in your community?
While the media point to schools and parents as the problem of poorly
performing schools, and others point to the school funding formula, the
Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) focuses on getting more workplace adults
involved in the lives of kids who live near poorly performing schools.
Mentoring veterans know that the week-to-week involvement of a mentor with
a youth is a process that enriches the life of the volunteer as well as
the youth. For volunteers working with innercity kids, the mentoring
experience can lead to a greater personal understanding of the obstacles
kids in poverty face that most other kids don't face as they grow up. The
personal bond a volunteer forms with a youth and this deeper understanding
of poverty often creates new leaders who are willing to go to battle for
innercity kids. =20
The T/MC's goal is to increase the number of business volunteers who
become tutors/mentors and who grow to also become leaders. We feel this
can lead to a more consistent and innovative involvement of business in
long-term mentoring-to-career programs. To increase the number of
tutors/mentors, the ability of many tutor/mentor programs to support
greater volunteer involvement must also increase. This means more
operating dollars must flow to every program to support training and staff
retention. This is essential to developing effective relationships with
youth, volunteers and families.
This is a long-term strategy. As it succeeds, it expands the number of
adults who take a leadership roles in hundreds of mentoring programs, in
businesses that seek to improve their workforce, and in the development of
public policy that is more consistent and effective in its support of
inner-city kids and inner-city schools.
At http://www.tutormentorexchange.net you can read about he Chicagoland Back-to-School Tutor/Mentor Volunteer
Recruitment Campaign. You can click into a Map Library with computer
generated maps that show where poverty and poorly performing schools are
most concentrated in the Chicago region. You can also find an on-line
database that potential volunteers and donors can use to search for
tutor/mentor programs in the Chicago region. With this information anyone
can choose which neighborhood in the city or suburbs they want to adopt.
=20
We'd like to see this campaign linked to similar campaigns in other
cities. We'd like to see it duplicated where no T/MC strategy exists. If
you'd like to know more, or want to get involved, visit the volunteer
recruitment campaign pages at http://www.tutormentorexchange.net.
written by Daniel F. Bassill, President, CEO, Cabrini Connections and
Tutor/Mentor Connection
<p>News you can use to train volunteers once you recruit them:
The T/MC offers training workshops at its 800 W. Huron office in Chicago
and hosts a Tutor/Mentor Leadership Conference In November. Visit http://www.tutormentorconference.bigstep.com to learn more.
August 28th, 9:30 am - 12:30 pm - Researching Foundations A to $ and "7
Steps to a Winning Proposal, presented by Ellen Dick, Founder, Illinois
Association of Nonprofit Organizations
August 29th, 9:30 am - 12:30 pm - Training Successful Volunteer Mentors,
presented by Toinette Pilgrim, Executive Director, Student Mentor Partners
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Atlanta 2003 Mentoring Conference, hosted by
the The Roberto C. Goizueta Mentoring Institute, will take place on
October 16-18th. The Conference aims to draw over 300 representatives
from community-based organizations, corporations, educational
organizations, and non-profits interested in starting or enhancing
existing mentoring and tutoring programs. Learn more at:
http://bbbsatl.org/training/MentoringConference2003.asp
Recommended reading
On the Road to Reading: A Guide for Community Partners. This is a
Department of Education publication. Anyone who receives funding from
the Corporation for National Service may receive a free copy. If they are
not a member, an online version is available at, http://nationalserviceresources.org
Preparing Disadvantaged Youth for the Workforce of Tomorrow Germany's
Digital Opportunities Foundation (http://www.digitale-chancen.de) has published Preparing Disadvantaged Youth for the Workforce of
Tomorrow. Based on a conference co-hosted by the Benton Foundation in
November 2002, the report examines strategies to engage underserved youth
populations to help them develop 21st century skills. The report's text
is published in both German and English. SOURCE: Stiftung Digitale
Chancen, Benton Foundation http://www.benton.org/publibrary/ttr/teentech02.pdf
Youth Cite Boredom as a Reason For Thoughts of Dropping Out (this report
makes a great case for the formation of non-school tutor/mentor programs)
The results of a survey of 239 Philadelphia public school students reveals
that the top reason students consider dropping out of school is boredom.
Of the students polled, 27 percent said they had considered dropping out.
Sixty-six percent of those who weighed dropping out cited boredom, while
64 percent cited stress and 56 percent cited "poor performance in school."
The survey was conducted by youth in the 2003 Youth VOICES Summer
Academy, which is run by the University Community Collaborative of
Philadelphia. Barbara Ferman, director of the collaborative, surmised
that students in affluent suburban districts might say the same, "but
suburban students have other opportunities from home, networks their
parents have and other things. Kids in the inner city are not getting it
elsewhere, so if a school can=92t hold them, there's precious little else
that can." From the email newsletter of MEE Productions Inc. - FREE Urban
Marketing News To SUBSCRIBE to MEE's mailing list and the MEE-zine, log
on to http://www.meeproductions.com'
Public Private Ventures has published a new resource that profiles the
Amachi project that focuses on Mentoring Children of Prisoners in
Philadelphia. Here is the description from the Public/Private Ventures
(P/PV) website with the link for more information:
"A unique partnership of secular and faith-based institutions, Amachi
recruits volunteers from congregations to mentor children of prisoners.
During its first two years in operation, the program generated more than
550 adult-child matches. This report explores the implications of the
Amachi experience for policymakers, funders, and others interested in
starting similar programs. It describes the Amachi model and traces the
steps involved in moving from plan to reality, focusing on approaches for
recruiting children, pastors, and volunteers. It also examines mentors'
successes and challenges, along with the program infrastructure designed
to support and monitor matches. In addition, the report presents data on
program quality and effectiveness."
http://ppv.org/content/reports/amachi.html
<p>Volunteer and Donor On-line Resources
State of Illinois - Volunteerism & Community Service
http://www.illinois.gov/volunteer/
Chicago's Community Resource Network http://www.chicagovolunteer.net
http://www.ServeNet.org
http://www.NetworkforGood.org
The Giraffe Project - recognizes individuals who stick their necks out to
make life better for everyone else. http://www.giraffe.org
Tutor/Mentor Connection Web sites
http://ww.tutormentorconnection.org
http://ww.tutormentorexchange.net
http://ww.cabriniconnections.net
http://www.tutormentorconference.bigstep.com
Please forward this e-newsletter to all friends, family, colleagues and
business partners who have an interest in helping all youth born in
poverty get the adult support they need to be entering jobs and careers by
age 25.
___________________________________________________
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