Mentos to Mentor - Thank Mentors

From TeamMates, one of our favorite, creative mentoring programs!























Ret. Jan. 23, 2018

El Reno's SSS End-of-Year Mentor-Mentee Event

Many Oklahoma mentoring programs have an end-of-year mentor appreciation event as brunch, lunch, or dinner. From the program's launch in 2013, however, El Reno School Foundation's Students Striving for Success has closed its year with a fun mentor-mentee activity.














Suzanne Thompson, catalyst for Students Striving for Success, a trustee of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, and a Students Striving for Success mentor, reported upon the event.

Richard Steanson and Gerardo Troncosco,
Students Striving for Success board
members and mentors, line up the mentees.

"The El Reno Bowl was the party setting for the end of school fun day for El Reno's Students Striving for Success mentors and mentees. Pizza, bowling and hanging out with friends have become an annual event for this group which includes ninety-six students and as many adults.  

This mentoring program has helped our children feel connected to their community and given them encouragement to be active participants in its success."

Curtis Jones, 2015 Mentor of the Year for Students Striving
for Success, and Kenneth, his mentee

How precious are these lovely mentees? Absolutely priceless!

Celebrations always include food.

El Reno Superintendent
Craig McVay & Lathon, his mentee

Mark Gibson & Seth

Mark Gibson & Nick

Dana Gibson,SSS chairman
& mentor,  with Sam

Dana Gibson & Caitlyn

About the 2014 event

http://okmentor.blogspot.com/2014/05/students-striving-for-success-mentor.html

Mentor 2, Fairview's Mission Mentors Appreciation Dinner

Editor’s Note

This is a transcript of Christine Sorrels’ presentation at Fairview's Mission Mentors Appreciation Banquet. A Yukon Public Schools mentor and mentoring director, Christine’s story encompasses the beginning of Yukon’s mentoring program, mentors’ making an impact, mentoring Jeremy, and encouraging other mentors and potential mentors. More information about Christine and Yukon follow.

Salute to Mission Mentors

As I was looking at your Mission Mentors website, http://www.missionmentors.com/,

I was very impressed with the success you have had with mentors and mentee since your beginning in 2010. That first year you had 50 matches. This year 70 or more! That is remarkable! Congratulations to John Medley, your Mentor of the Year, honored at the State Capitol in January. Also, the Mission Mentors YouTube video, https://youtu.be/he3dZpd6JoI, is very cool! We may have to borrow your format.

Yukon Public School's Miller Mentors

Beginning

In 1998, I attended a Youth Friends Mentoring conference in Kansas City, Missouri. It was the only formal mentoring program around that had training on how to begin a mentoring program. I felt our Yukon Public Schools Helping Hand Volunteer Program would be a great fit for school-based mentoring, which was really needed in our community. For example, in 1998 the United States rated at 34 per cent the highest number of single-parent families among developed countries. Oklahoma has consistently been in the top ten states with the highest divorce rate, in fact, number one in the USA in 2011.

Funding & Planning

I applied and received a Learn & Serve grant to start our program.  Not a lot of folks had heard about mentoring then. Counselors understood the need for and wanted mentors. Understandably, teachers, on the other hand, were not too thrilled to have students pulled from their instructional time throughout the day. 

So we compromised that first year by mentoring from 2:45 to 3:25 p.m. at the end of the school day. Many of the students who were referred were already being pulled out of their classrooms for math or reading labs or other specials in their Individual Education Plan (IEP). Teachers wanted the time with these students to give them as much instruction in their classrooms as possible. As a former second grade teacher, I understood their concerns.

The Pilot and Results

In January 1999, we kicked off the program with nine mentors at Skyview Elementary School. At the end of that school year, teachers that had students with a mentor were sold! Mentors had made a positive change in their mentees’ behavior, school attendance, and grades. The teachers said, ‘Tell the mentors to come any time of day, whenever it’s convenient for them! And get more…because we have many more students who need a mentor!’

The next year we had 41 matches at four school sites.  By the third year, we were in five of Yukon’s seven elementary schools with 96 matches. 

Mentors’ Making an Impact

Many times, especially at the beginning of a new mentoring relationship, mentors may not feel as if they are making an impact on a child’s life. I know because I mentored a second-grade girl who was struggling with many issues. Kammie, my mentee, was unable to pass second grade, although I had mentored her for half a year. Disappointed in myself, I felt as if I had failed her.

But for the past 16 years since we began our program, I can tell you more often than not mentoring does make a huge impact in a child’s life even if the child does not know how to express that back to the mentor.

As you know many of the students we mentor have never been taught appreciation. They have only been taught rejection, sadness, and a lack of self-worth whether it is because of academic struggles, a lack of caring and nurturing at home, or a combination of both.

As it turned out, failing was a good move for my little mentee. Her not being able to pass the second grade actually helped her mature and develop better skills and coping with school. 

She just graduated from Yukon High school a couple of weeks ago and began taking summer college classes this week! Yes, I continued to mentor her. I didn’t give up.

Our program’s mission statement is "Mentors will serve as role models and tutors providing academic and social support to empower and motivate students to succeed." It may take more than one  semester or even one school year to feel you are having success with a child you are mentoring…but don’t give up!

At orientations, I always tell our mentors that most of us have had at least one person in our lives that made a difference. Even as a young adult or in your work, someone may have taken a special interest in you with a constructive positive attitude that influenced your outcome. I tell them, "You might not have called them a mentor back then. Can you, however, recall how that person made a difference in your life? ‘How he or she made you feel or how you could see things in a different perspective for your life?"

MENTORING JEREMY

Jeremy Bennett & Christine Sorrels

Bonding through Adversity

Jeremy is another of our program’s success stories. In 1999, several teachers and I were asked to help with remediation tutoring and mentoring after school for a group of students. I was matched with a young man named Jeremy Bennett.  It was a tough time for Jeremy Bennett as his mother was going through some very difficult health issues. At that time I was dealing with the impending death of my sister, who had a 13-year-old daughter whom I loved and finished rearing.  Both women, Jeremy’s mom and my sister, passed within weeks of each other from the same disease.  Needless to say, Jeremy and I created a strong bond.

Sealing the Bond

Later Jeremy and I reconnected again at the local cancer charity, the Relay For Life. Because so many folks that year were in the stadium and so many luminaries on the football field, an announcement was made that no children would be allowed on the field. Jeremy was devastated. He sought me out in the crowd, and he told me that he would not be allowed to light his mother’s memorial luminary. He asked me if I would do it for him. Fiercely determined, I grabbed his hand, and together we walked onto the stadium floor. Not turned away, we lit both of their luminaries together. That lighting ceremony was an unforgettable emotional moment in my life.

Jeremy's Growing Older

As Jeremy went through high school, we didn’t have formal mentoring meetings, but I always kept up with him. Always happy to see each other, we would pass in the hallways at school, stop, and spend a few minutes catching up. I witnessed his leadership skills grow stronger and stronger.  He was an officer in Yukon’s agriculture classes. I heard an outstanding speech he gave to middle school students about skills and responsibilities of being an officer in the agriculture program. Jeremy went on to compete nationally in FFA. Jeremy, a graduate of Oklahoma State University, currently is the field representative for Congressmen Frank D. Lucas. Reading in our local newspaper about Jeremy’s accomplishments throughout his high school and college life pleased me.

Surprise

Last school year, I had one of the biggest thrills of my life when Jeremy walked into my office at the school’s administration building. The first thing he said was, "Mrs. Sorrels, do you remember me?" As my eyes filled with tears of happiness from seeing him, he said, "I’m here because I’m in a position now where I just want to give back."

Jeremy's Mentoring

Jeremy began mentoring a third-grade boy last year. This year while mentoring two third-grade boys, Jeremy has already made quite an impact in their lives as well as upon the faculty and staff of Myers Elementary and Yukon Schools.

Encouragement to Live and Mentor Passionately

I would like to close with these words from the Motivation Manifesto by Brendon Burchard, as a reminder to each of us, including myself, to think about what you choose to do each day and for next school year as you re-up to mentor again.

Most people are reactive vs proactive. We allow other people and their needs to dictate our days…Setting goals for each day, being intentional about living now! That is where true joy and happiness come from. LIVE NOW! How often do you live your life telling yourself, I have a little more busywork THEN I can relax; THEN I can enjoy my children; THEN I can pursue my life's work; THEN I can be happy? Don't do the minimum each day, choking through life waiting for happiness to knock on your door. Be intentional with your life, you have the choice to create happiness!

Burchard’s ideas are nothing new, but many of us must motivate ourselves to be intentional and make critical choices. We don’t have a second chance, folks…as you have heard before, this isn’t a dress rehearsal… this is your life; therefore,

1)    Choose to elevate OTHERS!

2)    Commitment to be consistent and dependable – to maintain a steady presence in the life of the youth you have mentored or will be mentoring next year.

3)    Spread the word… you are the greatest recruitment tool for Oklahoma’s children. 

Introduction of Jeremy

I’m so proud of the work and dedication my ‘mentee turned mentor’ is doing with his students. Everyone needs a ‘Jeremy’ in his or her life. It is my honor to introduce Yukon’s 2014-2015 Mentor of the Year, Jeremy Bennett.

See the next post for Jeremy’s sharing his mentoring experience.

More about Christine & Yukon Public Schools, Yukon, OK

Christine Sorrels, a mentor since 1998, is the director of Yukon Public Schools Helping Hand Volunteer Program, 45 years old, and Miller Mentors. Yukon, once a closely-knit rural area near Oklahoma City, is a rapidly growing suburban community of about 25,000 people. In addition to several other school programs, Christine and her staff/sidekicks, Christal Whitmire and Donna Klukas, encourage and supervise over 750 volunteers, mentors, and academic tutors within nine elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, and one alternative school. ‘A masterful achievement! Yukon’s goal with so many structured contact mechanisms between students and community members is to preserve the small town atmosphere in burgeoning suburbia. Perhaps more importantly than all of her accomplishments and well-executed responsibilities, Christine is the mentor of the mentee turned mentor.

For more information about Yukon Public Schools Helping Hand Volunteers and Miller Mentoring Program, http://www.yukonps.com/OurStudents/HelpingHandsProgram/tabid/436/Default.asp

Yukon, located along historic Route 66, has long been known for its grain milling industries, hence the apropos name of the program, Miller Mentors. 

We are so proud of the leadership of western Oklahoma towns such as Fairview and Yukon to begin and sustain effective mentoring programs. 

​ ​

Mentor 1, Fairview's Mission Mentors Appreciation Dinner

Editor's Note

Celebrating mentors and hearing mentoring stories always inspire us. Below is an excerpt from the evening’s presentations. John Medley, Mission Mentors’ 2015 Mentor of the Year, shared his experience in the transcript below. His story reveals the kind of man John Medley is.

John's Story
Five years ago, Rocky Burchfield, Fairview’s superintendent of schools, approached me about becoming a mentor. I really wasn't interested. Rocky said he had the perfect boy for me.  I don't know why, but I said OK.

Cole, my mentee, is a good student with no apparent problems. During his fifth-grade year, he asked me to go on his class field trip. We went to the State Capitol. A year later I was honored as the Mentor of the Year, and again we went to the Capitol.  We had a great time. 

When I pick him up after school, his first words are usually, "I don't have any homework." One day we played a game of pool and were about to start a second one when he said, "I forgot. I have homework. Can I work on it now?" He had about 20 math problems. We discussed what he was doing and how to do it. The light bulb came on, and he finished most of them before I took him home.

When I went to watch his first junior high baseball practice, the coach had 37 boys out. I asked if I could take some of them and do something.  The coach gave me 20, and we practiced throwing. When it was over, he asked if I would be back tomorrow, and I was.

Cole is a great kid.  His mother was a student of my wife, Edith.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be a mentor.

Not said at the banquet but added later through personal communication:

Cole’s dad died from a bad disease just before school started. His mother thought he needed a male in his life. The next year I developed cancer, lymphoma/ leukemia.  I knew I was going to die and tried to get out of being a mentor. Cole’s mom said she would talk to him, and Cole said he would keep me. She remarried, and he and his step-dad get along great.  Again I thought I wasn't needed.  Cole thought differently.

The first four years we mostly played games at the school. Now and then I would pick him up for lunch. A quick stop pizza was his choice. This year I have attended sporting events.

John Medley's Mentor of the Year Tribute

Below is the original tribute that Randi Lackey, Mission Mentors’ Match Support Specialist, sent to recognize John as Mission Mentors’ Mentor of the Year.

Mission Mentors has selected John Medley as its Mentor of the Year. John has been a devoted role model for his mentee, Cole, since the program began in 2010. Despite his grueling battle with cancer, John has been so dedicated in being involved with Cole, ensuring he never missed a visit during the school year. Mission Mentors does not require the mentors to meet during the summer, but John has always gone above and beyond, making sure he attended summer baseball games, practices, and lunch outings.  Every week, John picks up Cole and helps him with homework, and then treats him to a game of pool at our local bowling alley. Cole lost his father suddenly in 2008 and John has been a wonderful role model, allowing Cole to thrive as a student, son, and young man.

In addition, John has a servant’s heart.  He served in the U.S. Army during the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1960-1963.* He now serves as a faithful deacon at First Baptist Church in Fairview. John retired from the US Postal Service as the Superintendent of Postal Operations in Fairview.

*  John was stationed in Germany for two years.  His wife was with him for one year, and their youngest daughter was born there in the backseat of a new Mercedes, a taxi. 

Wanda Pratt, aka "Mama Durant;" Cole, John's mentee; John Medley,
Mission Mentors' Mentor of the Year; and Linda Neal, president of the
Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence in the House Chamber,
Oklahoma State Capitol January 15, 2015.

Cole and John

About Mission Mentors and Fairview

Randi Lackey, match support specialist; Jeremy Bennett,
co-speaker and a field representative for Congressman
Frank Lucas; Vicki Ewbank and Susie Harder, founding
directors of Mission Mentors; Christine Sorrels, co-speaker
and director of Yukon Public Schools Miller Mentors
and Helping Hand Volunteers; Rocky Burchfield,
superintendent of Fairview; and Jennifer Burchfield,
also a founding director of the mentoring program

Fairview, a rural, western Oklahoma town with a population of about 2,500, began Mission Mentors in 2010. Superintendent Burchfield and the Mission Mentors Board of Directors decided that school-based mentoring for grades 1st-5th and community-based mentoring for grades 6th-12th would work best for them. This hybrid model has become one of Oklahoma's four best school-based mentoring models.

The Mentor Appreciation Banquet, June 4, 2015, had two other speakers, parts of whose presentations will appear in subsequent posts. Calleen Davis, a Fairview resident, catered the outstanding homemade food, including sliced beef that melted in one's mouth, chicken, blueberry bread pudding, chocolate cake, and more. The historic, remodeled Fairview Community Center is the perfect venue for such an event.

Blackledge Hall

About Mission Mentors' Hybrid Mentoring Program

About the Mission Mentors  http://www.missionmentors.com 

Video https://youtu.be/he3dZpd6JoI  

We salute Fairview's Mission Mentors team--the town, the board, and the school system. 

45th Annual Helping Hands Volunteer Appreciation Brunch

Yukon Public Schools has over 750 volunteers engaged throughout this school system rapidly transitioning from rural area to burgeoning suburb. The goal for the diverse army of volunteers is to
preserve the small town feel and village caring for every student.

Management of this many people each year takes strong management skills and organizational design in addition to much vision, energy and persuasion. Christine Sorrels, the director of the YPS Helping Hands Volunteer & Miller Mentor Program, is practically irresistible, totally indomitable, and perpetually perky. Her equally laughter-loving, enthusiastic accomplices are Christal Whitmire and Donna Klukas. The three make the hierarchical volunteer organization work as effectively as the ancient Roman Army in its heyday.

For more about event organization, read last year's blog posted on May 8, 2014. http://okmentor.blogspot.com/2014/05/44th-helping-hands-appreciation-brunch.html 

Various volunteer groups

Christine Sorrels,
 the heart of the
YPS volunteer army

According to Christine, one hour of volunteer time is worth $22.56. At the end of the school year, based upon current figures, the total volunteer hours for Yukon PS is 60,000 hours. Those hours translate into $1.4 million pumped into Yukon students through personal relationships and special involvement. 

[2013 data, https://www.independentsector.org/volunteer_time]

By the way, Christine reminded us that April is National Volunteer Month.





Arrival  
As we arrived, a group of volunteer leaders greeted us while Christine, Christal, and Donna were roving and hugging all present. Just about everyone knows everyone else because of the intentional outreach to and maintenance of community.



Entertainment

A spirited song and dance to "Car Wash"
Some attendees remembered those Sixties-inspired outfits.

The Yukon Middle School Theater Performance 
Class performing

Each group has a seating assignment. 

Food       

Fruit, biscuits, gravy, eggs...

Requisite, celebratory cake

Logistics and Groups

This year the color scheme was blue, white, and peach. The blue craft paper tablecloths were decorated with personalized messages for each volunteer group. Volunteers are also seated either by schools or specific groups so that school staff and volunteers are close together. 'Impossible to be a wallflower here. Dismissal to the buffet line is also done by group. Administration and guests have tables, but most principals sit with their volunteers. The administrative office and board were well represented.

Rows of tables of Academic Tutors

Mentors do not worry about tutoring because Yukon has many upperclass students who tutor regularly either one-on-one or within a classroom. They earn points, recorded by "Christine & Company."

Service hour tracking is critical to earn a Presidential Service Pin, which volunteers of all ages can earn. Yukon Public Schools allows a Presidential Service Pin to be worn with graduation robes. Every school can instigate such a program, track results, and report. 

http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/the-award   

Mark Burke, WATCH D.O.G.S..
 stands in front of a
sign bearing his name and service points.
https://www.fathers.com/watchdogs/

Sorrels, Dr. Simeroth, Dr. McAdoo

Dr. Jason Simeroth follows the script as does Christine. He even read aloud her comment that he could add anything super duper great, fun, and/or inspirational.

Dr. Simeroth, superintendent of Yukon Public Schools, was asked to mentor a student this year! Dr. Simeroth said that he was hesitant to commit to mentoring with his crazy schedule. Within 15 minutes of his first meeting with Mark, his mentee, Simeroth knew he would continue. Over the year, he has watched his mentee's demeanor change, growth occur, and confidence increase. We really like this kind of school leader! He is part of an elite and increasing number of Oklahoma school superintendents who mentor.      

Among the volunteering groups recognized were Terry's Kids  Arising when recognized from their own tables, these elementary students willingly help their teachers before and after school. Yukon indeed teaches volunteerism early. Kudos to these youngsters!

Part of the Z-shaped, snaking buffet line

People

Gene and Treva Hill, 2014 Mentors of the Year for Yukon Public Schools' Miller Mentors, who are still mentoring multiple students sometimes alone or as a pair.





Below is Gary Cannon with Sophie, a HALO service dog. Gary is also one of the WATCH D.O.G.S.

Sophie didn't appear comfortable posing for the photo, but the moment she stepped up to the receiving line, she was a pampered, beloved star receiving devotion from and giving it back to her fans. 

Right
Valerie Foley and Dana Pybas, mother and daughter volunteers

"Val" has volunteered since in high school. Although she has recently had her second kidney transplant, she does not let it interfere with her service work.

Christal Whitmire


Shaun Caven, director of kayaking and head coach, OKC Boathouse Foundation, spoke briefly about the kayaking opportunities for all ages this summer at Lake Overholser. Through a grant from the Anne Lacey Foundation, the Overholser Route 66 Boathouse Adventures will be open this June. 

Christine is from Manchester, England. Shaun is from Scotland. Christine introduced her friend in a Cockney/East End/Scottish accent mixture, which entertained us all.

Donna Klukas and Jenna, her lovely daughter, who is also a long-time volunteer. Although she is now a nurse at Mercy, Jenna makes time for the students.

The Awards

Crystal clock for Valerie Foley

Closeup of the engraving 

on the silver tray for Jenna

The silver plates were so 

shiny that the reflection of 

what the photographer was 

wearing is almost perfect.

Final Comments 
Virtually everything, including food and awards, is donated each year. Review page one of the program. Yukon really does have community service and volunteerism as part of its culture. 

A nursery is provided for those who wish to leave their younger children there until the event ends. Is that customer/volunteer service or not?

Applause!